U.N. Passes Resolution Against North Korea

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution that imposes sanctions on North Korea and that calls on that state to halt its missile development. China did not veto the resolution; they were placated by the absence of any mention of the use of force. The resolution has apparently pleased Japan; Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Chintaro Ito said, "The council has acted swiftly and robustly in response to the reckless and condemnable act of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

It hasn't been written in an linkable article, but the North Korean ambassador spoke live to the Security Council a few moments ago and, needless to say, he was defiant. He called the missile program self-defense and asserted that without their missile development the U.S. would have attacked them.

UPDATE: Atlas Shrugs has the text of Ambassador John Bolton's comments on the resolution. There's no link to the original there, but I'm assuming she didn't transcribe it (although, she is Superwoman, so maybe).

Now that the resolution has been passed, there is the matter of enforcement. There were no enforcement provisions in the resolution, but it does put various states on record as opposing expansion of North Korea's missile industry.

UPDATE 2: Here's a story on the North Korean response.

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• North Korea Update
• Counterintuitive Ideas On North Korea
• Kim Jong Il To Shoot A New Load
• North Korea Might Not Be As Screwed As We Might Hope
• North Koreans Launch Something, And May Be Ready To Launch Some More
• North Korea Blusters
• North Korea Expected To Launch Some Missile This Summer

Technorati tags: North Korea | United States