UN nears approval of new sanctions on N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- The UN Security Council moved yesterday toward approving new sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear test last month, drawing a furious reaction from Pyongyang.

The proposed sanctions, introduced by the United States with the support of China, would target North Korea's ties to foreign banks and what Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN, described as the illicit activities of North Korean diplomats.

The isolated Stalinist state is already facing three sets of UN sanctions for its past nuclear and missile tests, along with other activities. But Rice told reporters that the new resolution, expected to be approved Thursday, would take the sanctions "to the next level, breaking new ground and imposing significant new legal obligations."

North Korea responded by threatening to disconnect the "hotline" to U.S. forces in South Korea, tear up its armistice agreement with South Korea and strike the United States with "lighter and smaller nukes." U.S. officials and analysts largely discounted the threats as bluster, noting that North Korea has made such statements previously.

The support of China, which supplies North Korea with most of its food and energy, was key. Beijing accepted most of what the United States wanted, but insisted that the sanctions be focused on Pyongyang's missile and nuclear activities and leave North Korea's legal trade untouched.

Li Baodong, China's UN ambassador, said that "a strong signal must be sent out that a nuclear test is against the will of the international community," according to Reuters.

Bonnie Glaser, Asia specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she believed China was trying to thread a needle between a punitive response to the Feb. 12 nuclear test and any action that threatens to ratchet regional tensions too high.