UPDATE BELOW

Original Issue date: 06/10/09

Russian officials have said North Korea is close to test-launching another ballistic missile, Russian media say.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted a military official saying he had information on the type of rocket but no launch date. In recent weeks, North Korea has fired a long-range and several short-range missiles, and tested a nuclear device.

The Russian warning comes as diplomats at the UN said the Security Council was close to agreement on new sanctions against North Korea over the tests. Fears of a new missile launch by North Korea have been stoked by warnings earlier this week to shipping to stay away from the waters off its east coast for the next three weeks.

Launch imminent?

Itar-Tass quoted a source in the Russian foreign ministry as saying: "Judging by everything, a launch will take place. There are signs that preparations for this are underway."

US and South Korean officials have also said there are signs that the North may be preparing to test-fire a long-range missile. The US has said it has ruled out military action against the North in favor of international diplomatic efforts.

US President Barack Obama's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, told the Korea Society in New York that the US was not seeking to topple the North Korean government.

"North Korea's recent actions to develop a nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile capacity require that we expand our consideration of new responses," Mr Bosworth said.

"However, the North Korean claim to be responding to a 'threat' or a 'hostile policy' by the United States is simply groundless.

"Quite to the contrary, we have no intention to invade North Korea or change its regime through force, and this has been made clear to the DPRK repeatedly," he added, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

Mr. Bosworth supported the resumption of the six-party talks with the North aimed at ending its nuclear program. The parties include Russia, China, Japan, the US and both Koreas.

North Korea said on Tuesday that it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked.

South Korea has informed the US of up to 20 North Korean bank accounts, in China and Switzerland, suspected of being involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and other illegal transactions, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

The US is expected to pursue financial sanctions against the North alongside international sanctions. The US wants tougher inspections of ships carrying cargo to and from North Korea and wants to deny North Korea access to international banking services.

"We're making progress but we are not done yet," said Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, on Tuesday. "I'm hopeful that this will be concluded soon."

UPDATE

Release date: 06/19/09

U.N. imposes tough new sanctions on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council has imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea, punishing the country for its second nuclear test. Pyongyang responded to the resolution Saturday by vowing to "weaponize" all its plutonium and will consider any blockade "an act of war."

The Security Council agreed Friday to expand an arms embargo and authorize ship searches on the high seas, with the goal of derailing the isolated nation's nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea responded with a defiant statement and its Foreign Ministry also acknowledged for the first time that the country has a uranium enrichment program, and insisted it will never abandon its nuclear ambitions. Uranium and plutonium can be used to make atomic bombs.

The statement said "the whole amount of the newly extracted plutonium (in the country) will be weaponized."

In a sign of growing global anger at North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of the council, the North's closest allies Russia and China joined Western powers and nations from every region in unanimously approving the sanctions resolution.

The resolution seeks to deprive North Korea of financing and material for its weapons program and bans the country's lucrative arms exports, especially missiles. It does not ban normal trade, but does call on international financial institutions not to provide the North with grants, aid or loans except for humanitarian, development and denuclearization programs.

The resolution condemns "in the strongest terms" the North's May 25 nuclear test "in violation and flagrant disregard" of the 2006 sanctions resolution.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said the new resolution provided "a strong and united international response" to North Korea's test in defiance of a ban imposed after its first underground atomic blast in October 2006 by imposing "unprecedented" measures.

"The message of this resolution is clear: North Korea's behavior is unacceptable to the international community and the international community is determined to respond," DiCarlo said. "North Korea should return without conditions to a process of peaceful dialogue."