The five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) plus Japan and South Korea have started talks on the text of a draft resolution in response to the recent nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK), diplomats said Thursday.
The draft resolution emerged behind closed doors five days after the DPRK conducted the nuclear test, but diplomats declined to give any further details on the draft resolution being discussed among representatives of the seven countries, P5 plus two.
Japan is a nonpermanent member of the 15-nation Council and South Korea is not a member of the UN body.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters after the closed-door talks Thursday afternoon that "we continue our good work. We're working hard."
"It's constructive and this is going to be a process, as I said the other day, that will continue. I'm not get into discussions on the process but just to let you know, we're working well," she said.
The rotating Council president of May, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the parties will continue to exchange views on " proper specifics" of the response of the Security Council to the recent development.
"The first immediate political response was quick, but now we need to take some time to reflect on what the specifics of the future resolution need to be," Churkin said, adding they will continue?their work.
Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu said they agreed not to share with the content of the negotiation at the moment.
"We don't want to impact upon the conclusion," Takasu said, adding that there is a good spirit of understanding and cooperation among the parties that "the Security Council must respond clearly and strongly as early as possible."
The Security Council on Monday voiced "the strong opposition to and the condemnation of" the DPRK's second nuclear test since October 2006 at the end of their emergency meeting, held shortly after the DPRK's large underground explosion.
The DPRK has been under UN sanctions that prevent the nation from nuclear and ballistic activity since its first atomic test in 2006. An April 5 rocket launch, which the DPRK said put a satellite into orbit, prompted the Security Council to adopt a presidential statement to condemn the launch and tighten the sanctions.
(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2009)
