World powers say North Korea should be punished

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya speaks to the media. Picture / Reuters

UNITED NATIONS - China, North Korea's most important ally, joined other world powers today in calling for a tough response to the reclusive communist state's announcement of a nuclear weapons test.

China and Russia, which both border North Korea, met with other veto-holding members of the UN Security Council to discuss a range of sanctions proposed by the United States and Japan to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

Beijing's UN Ambassador, Wang Guangya, told reporters: "I think that there has to be some punitive actions." But he did not say which of the US-proposed sanctions he would support.

"We need to have a firm, constructive, appropriate but prudent response to North Korea's nuclear threat," Wang added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged the international community to act together to deter North Korea from its nuclear ambitions.

In a double interview with German ARD state television today, Merkel said the case of Iran had shown that the international community was more effective in coping with such problems when united than when riven with disagreement.

"The world is growing closer together, and hence the various countries need to act together closely (on North Korea)," Merkel said a day after North Korea said it had conducted an underground nuclear test.

Putin, currently on a visit to Germany, agreed, but was reluctant to say whether sanctions should be applied.

"We need to move from talk of ultimatums and sanctions towards seeing international law prevail in international matters," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

In Moscow, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov called the reported test a "colossal blow" to the nonproliferation regime but, like China, insisted an eventual UN resolution should not involve the use of force. No one at the United Nations has proposed this.

"For us that is very important ... imagine if there was military action on the territory of North Korea ... North Korea has borders with three countries, and one of them is Russia," Ivanov told reporters.

The United States, France and Britain, the three other permanent council members, agreed that tough measures were needed fast, despite the fact that only Russia has said the evidence available confirms a nuclear blast actually occurred.