UN Council imposes sanctions on N. Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose weapons-related sanctions on North Korea in response to its flurry of missile tests earlier this month.

The resolution demands that North Korea suspend "all activities" on its ballistic missile programs.

It requires all U.N. members to prevent imports from or exports to North Korea of missiles and missile-related items as well as materials that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.

To avert a veto from China, the resolution does not mention Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which is used on a legally binding document. But Security Council members say the resolution is mandatory because of the way it is worded.

China and Russia had originally proposed weaker language, but agreed to a tough resolution. They expressed fears that Chapter 7 would lead to military action as in Iraq.

"The council has acted swiftly and robustly in response to the reckless and condemnable act of (North Korea) in launching the barrage of ballistic missiles," Japan's vice minister for foreign affairs, Shintaro Ito, told the 15-member council after the vote.

Defying international warnings, North Korea launched at least six missiles on July 5 and a seventh some 12 hours later. A long-range Taepodong-2, which could theoretically hit the continental United States, fell into the Sea of Japan within a minute of the launch.

North Korea, a reclusive Stalinist state, has rebuffed worldwide criticism of its missile tests and resisted pressure to return to talks on winding up its nuclear arms program, but its neighbors pressed on with diplomacy to resolve the crisis.