UN Council puts off action on Pyongyang

The UN Security Council on Wednesday shunted aside the issue of North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programme and whether economic ...

The UN Security Council on Wednesday shunted aside the issue of North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programme and whether economic sanctions should be imposed, indicating Council members were in no hurry to take up the matter.

The decision was likely to delight the US administration of President George W. Bush, which is determined to prevent the nuclear stand-off with North Korea from interfering with the 15-member council’s concentration on a looming war with Iraq.

‘Kids, not soldiers, eat aid’

BEIJING: A North Korean government study released on Thursday shows foreign food aid is helping reduce malnutrition among children in famine-hit North Korea, UN agencies said, in a rebuttal of US charges the North uses aid to feed its Army.

Story continues below this ad

SEOUL: A North Korean MiG-19 fighter jet briefly crossed into South Korea today but retreated without incident when two South Korean jets raced it, a South Korean military official said. (Agencies)

Ahead of an unusually brief council meeting on Pyongyang’s refusal to comply with its non-proliferation obligations, one diplomat said the Council would ignore the matter for the time being to allow for further diplomacy by interested governments.

‘‘We’ll say we’ve received the ball and are studying the ball and will continue to study the ball and that we’ll pass the ball to experts because we’ve never quite seen a ball like this before,’’ said the diplomat.

At issue was a vote by the governing board of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to refer the crisis to the Security Council. The Council has the power to punish nations for violating UN rules aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. (Reuters)