S Korea will not support UN against N Korea

UN resolution includes a threat of military force against North Korea for its claimed nuclear test.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Myung-sook said on Tuesday that Seoul would not support a UN resolution that includes a threat of military force against North Korea for its claimed nuclear test.

HT Image

"We should oppose" the resolution if it contains potential military repercussions against the North for failure to comply with the Security Council demands, she told the parliament. "There should never be war on the Korean Peninsula."

The Security Council is debating language put forward by some members that would demand the North immediately return to nuclear arms talks.

The communist North declared on Monday it had conducted its first-ever nuclear test, in defiance of strong international warnings.

In July, the UN Security Council adopted a sanctions resolution against the North, condemning its test-firing of a barrage of missiles. The UN at the time considered including possible military action against the North in the resolution _ a move strongly opposed by South Korea and China, the North's ally and chief benefactor.

Pyongyang's nuclear test comes amid stalled international efforts to persuade the communist regime to give up its nuclear ambitions.