S. Korea hails U.N.'s "quick and appropriate" response to N. Korean missile

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, July 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea welcomed the U.N. Security Council's
condemnation Tuesday of North Korea's ballistic missile launches over the
weekend, saying it was a "quick and appropriate" step that reflects the
international community's unified message of warning against the North's
continued provocations.
"The government views it (the council's response) as a quick and appropriate
measure," foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said in a brief verbal
statement.
South Korea's ambassador to the U.N. pointed out that the North's missile
launches clearly violated the U.N. Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang and
that the international community needed to "sound a unified voice of warning."
Earlier in the day, the 15-member council convened a meeting at the request of
Japan to discuss how to deal with the North after it fired seven ballistic
missiles on Saturday.
"The members of the Security Council condemned and expressed grave concern at the
launches, which constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and
pose a threat to regional and international security," the council's president
Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda told reporters, summing up the results of the
three-hour closed-door session.
The oral statement, the lowest-level statement the council can issue as it is not
officially recorded as part of the proceedings, came as the U.S. tightens the
screws on the North under a council resolution adopted after Pyongyang's second
nuclear test in May.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that Stuart Levey, its top official on
countering terrorism-related funds, will travel to mainland China and Hong Kong
from Wednesday to Friday.
Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, plans to hold
meetings with government officials and executives at private financial
institutions there. It will be his second trip to China, the North's largest
benefactor, in a month after he accompanied an interagency team led by Deputy
Secretary of State James Steinberg early last month.
He is known for having played a key role in U.S. efforts to cut off Iran's
illegal money transactions with the outside world. Levey also spearheaded a U.S.
measure in 2005 to blacklist Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a small bank in Macau that
was accused of helping North Korea launder money earned through its
counterfeiting and narcotics trade. The measure effectively froze US$25 million
of North Korean assets at the bank and prompted many other foreign financial
institutions to suspend transactions with Pyongyang.
Philip Goldberg, the U.S. coordinator for the implementation of U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1874, passed after North Korea's May 25 nuclear test, also
visited China last week and Malaysia over the weekend.
North Korea is suspected of using banks in Malaysia as a conduit for its weapons
trade with Middle Eastern countries and others including Myanmar. Malaysia has a
visa-free travel pact with North Korea and a number of North Korean firms and
individuals hold bank accounts there.
Malaysian authorities have denied the allegations but promised to work with the
U.S. in implementing the U.N. resolution.
Diplomatic sources here, however, said the U.S. is unlikely to push for BDA-style
sanctions this time.
"The U.S. is expected to ask for the voluntary cooperation of related nations and
financial institutions in blocking North Korea's illicit financial transactions,
rather than making public the blacklisting of certain banks," a source said on
condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials are already encouraged by the turning back of a North Korean
freighter, Kang Nam 1, that had been trailed by the U.S. Navy for weeks on
suspicion of carrying contraband weaponry.
The 2,000-ton vessel left North Korea's western port last month, reportedly bound
for Myanmar. The U.S. Navy closely monitored its course, putting psychological
pressure on North Korea and other nations subject to Resolution 1874 that bans
U.N. member states from providing fuel and other supplies to North Korean ships
believed to be involved in illegal weapons trade.
The Kang Nam 1 turned around and returned to North Korea on Monday, according to
South Korean and U.S. defense officials.
"What recently happened with the Kang Nam is a very effective way of stopping
proliferation," Admiral Cary Roughhead, chief of the U.S. Navy, told reporters
here.
He said his troops will continue operations to support the U.N. Security Council
resolution.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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