Military sanctions may be taken off the table

Russia, China balking at tough N. Korea penalties

NEW YORK -- A new U.S. draft Security Council resolution circulated Thursday night would authorize only non-military sanctions against North Korea and require a new U.N. resolution for any further action, a key demand of China.

The draft, obtained by the Associated Press, would only allow non-military sanctions such as economic penalties, breaking diplomatic relations or banning air travel.

It also eliminates a previously proposed blanket arms embargo. And it urges North Korea to speedily implement a September 2005 agreement in which it pledged to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

But after several hours of closed-door negotiations late in the day, Russia and China -- the two Security Council nations closest to Pyongyang -- acknowledged good progress.

The U.S. envoy was even more upbeat after the meeting of the five permanent Council ambassadors -- the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France -- and the Japanese ambassador, who is this month's Council president.

''We have made very substantial progress,'' U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters. ''I don't want to say we've reached agreement yet, but many, many of the significant differences have been closed, very much to our satisfaction."

China opposes any mention of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7, which authorizes punishments including economic sanctions, naval blockades and military actions. China and Russia want to see sanctions focus primarily on reining in North Korea's nuclear and weapons programs.

The measures to which Russia and China object were in an earlier revised U.S. draft resolution.

''We're certainly in favor of keeping all the diplomatic channels open, but we also want swift action, and we shouldn't allow meetings and more meetings ... to be an excuse for inaction,'' Bolton said earlier Thursday. AP