UN appears impotent after Nork launch

BBC:

An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss North Korea's rocket launch has ended without agreement.

As divisions emerged, diplomats said the council would continue consultations on the best way forward.

Washington and Tokyo are seeking a strong response, but Beijing and Moscow have called for restraint.

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The US, South Korea and Japan have all condemned the launch from the Musudan-ri base in the north-east of the communist country.

See satellite images of North Korea's launch pad

They say it violates a UN Security Council resolution adopted in October 2006 which bans North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile activity.

Susan Rice, the US envoy to the UN, called Pyongyang's move a "clear-cut violation of [resolution] 17-18", while her Japanese counterpart said Tokyo was seeking a "clear, firm and unified" response.

But, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan, who is at the UN, countries such as China and Russia disagree.

There was no general agreement at the council on whether North Korea was in breach of the resolution, let alone on whether it should be punished, our correspondent says.

Zhang Yesui, China's envoy to the UN, said that the world should refrain from taking action that might lead to increased tension.

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China and Russia are reluctant to acknowledge the North Korean violations, because they do not want to take decisive action. Their game is keeping the UN as a weak debating society that takes no effective action. They have achieved their objective so far, despite having Democrats back in power. Those Democrats cannot blame this problem on President Bush.