UN: The United States has claimed the UN Security Council is making "good progress" on a resolution condemning North Korea's launch of seven missiles, although China and Russia remain firmly opposed to imposing sanctions.
US ambassador John Bolton acknowledged that Beijing and Moscow favoured issuing a presidential policy statement on North Korea rather than a binding resolution.
"There may be a disagreement at the moment over the vehicle that we use here in the Security Council, but no one speaks in favour of North Korea. Nobody says it was a good thing that North Korea launched these missiles. The thrust of what we're trying to do is identify the risk posed in the region and in the wider world about a North Korea with ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads," he said.
The US and Britain are co-sponsoring a Japanese resolution that condemns the launches and would bar any nation from transferring funds, material and technology for North Korea's missile or nuclear programme.
China and Russia point out that the security council responded with a statement rather than a resolution in 1998 after North Korea fired a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.
President George Bush said yesterday he was pleased that leaders of China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, in telephone calls during the past few days, agreed that the Pyongyang should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the White House following a meeting with Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, Mr Bush said the US sought a diplomatic resolution to the stand-off with North Korea and was working to achieve a common international position.
"Diplomacy takes a while. We're spending time, diplomatically, making sure that voice is unified. Let's send a common message that you won't be rewarded for ignoring the world and that you'll be isolated if you continue to do this and yet there's a way forward."
Shrugging off international anger, North Korea vowed to continue tests and threatened to use force if the international community tried to stop it.
North Korea, which has said it has nuclear weapons and is keen to test its ability to transport those warheads, fired at least six missiles from its east coast on Wednesday and then another 12 hours later, the launch of the seventh coinciding with global anger about the secretive Stalinist enclave's actions and regional fears in Asia about what its intentions might be. Some experts say the long-range Taepodong-2 could hit Alaska if it worked even though this time it flew for less than a minute and splashed into the sea west of Japan.
Despite the failure, the missile launches ratcheted up nuclear tensions in Asia, where the focus was on much nearer potential targets such as Tokyo or Seoul, as governments in Japan and South Korea turned a fearful eye towards the Korean peninsula.
A North Korean official acknowledged the country had launched the missiles and said Pyongyang did not feel bound by a moratorium on missile testing, as it had the right to conduct tests for self-defence.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will have no option but to take stronger physical actions of other forms, should any other country dare take issue with the exercises and put pressure upon it," the official told the official KCNA news agency.
South Korean politicians said analysis of equipment and personnel being moved in and out of a missile-launch site in North Korea suggested there could be as many as three more launches planned, though it was unclear whether subsequent ones would include another Taepodong-2.
Japan is coming up with sanctions and prime minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed to work with Mr Bush for a UN resolution to stop funds and technology that could be used for weapons. The expectation was growing that China would be called upon to step up its role in the matter more than it has so far. China, along with Russia, opposed imposing sanctions on North Korea, but said it would keep the pressure on North Korea to participate in six-nation talks in Beijing, which include both Koreas, the US, Russia, Japan and China.
China is North Korea's chief ally, supplying most of the country's food and economic aid, and the launch is certain to have riled the Chinese, particularly as it is a slap in the face to prime minister Wen Jiabao, who repeatedly called on North Korea to call off the tests.