By Li Hongmei
The 15-nation UN Security Council is poised for a Thursday vote on a draft sanctions resolution on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after its February 12 nuclear test - the third since 2006.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Tuesday after a closed-door meeting of the Security Council that the new draft resolution "builds up, strengthens and significantly expands the scope of the strong U.N. sanctions already in place."
The proposed new measures would explicitly ban the sale to Pyongyang of items, such as yachts and racing cars, a council diplomat said on condition of anonymity. The draft also aims to make it more difficult for Pyongyang to move funds around the world.
In response, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) sent strong rhetoric on Tuesday threatening to scrap an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The threat was attributed by the KCNA news agency to the Korean People's Army Supreme Command spokesman and raises the level of bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang, which faces additional international sanctions after its nuclear test last month.
It has already warned of "destruction" of the South if it goes ahead with the military exercises with the United States.
The two Koreas are still technically still at war after the 1950-53 civil war ended in a truce rather than a treaty.
The DPRK also said it would sever a military "hotline" with the United States if South Korea and Washington pressed on with two-month-long war games.
The DPRK has made much of "hotlines" with the South and the United States over the years, but has not been known ever to have used them in times of increased tension.
The latest threats were reminiscent of previous periods of high tension on the Korean peninsula.
China's U.N. ambassador Li Baodong was quoted by media as saying, "we support action taken by the council, but we think that action should be proportionate, should be balanced and focused on bringing down the tension and focusing on the diplomatic track."
"A strong signal must be sent out that a nuclear test is against the will of the international community," he added.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that Washington hoped the DPRK would engage in negotiations to resolve world concerns instead of threatening to scrap the 50-year-old truce with the South.
"Rather than threaten to abrogate, the world would be better served if they (North Korea) would engage in legitimate dialogue," Kerry said during a visit to Qatar.
In January, the Security Council passed a resolution expanding U.N. sanctions against the DPRK due to its December rocket launch and warned Pyongyang against further launches or nuclear tests. Pyongyang responded by threatening a new atomic detonation, which it then carried out the following month.
