UNITED NATIONS, 14 October 2006 — UN Security Council members are expected to vote today on a resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its announcement that it has tested a nuclear weapon, US Ambassador John Bolton said.

Washington, responding to China’s concerns, has proposed a resolution specifically ruling out military force. Bolton spoke to reporters yesterday after consultations among the 15 Council nations and said there might still be some changes during the course of the day.

China, which is North Korea’s closest ally but has strongly condemned Pyonyang’s announcement of a test on Monday, still has problems with one of the most controversial parts of the resolution.

This provision would authorize nations to inspect cargo leaving and arriving in North Korea in a search for nuclear materials or ballistic missiles.

North Korea has said it would see tough UN measures as tantamount to a declaration of war and remained unrepentant in the face of international condemnation.

Washington’s “hostile policy toward the DPRK has gone beyond the tolerance limit and a dangerous atmosphere of confrontation reminiscent of that on the eve of war is now prevailing on the Korean Peninsula,” its state news agency, KCNA, said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the North’s official name.

In an effort to meet objections from China and Russia, the latest draft UN resolution makes clear the measures do not include military force. The resolution would prohibit any transfer or development of weapons of mass destruction and ban sale of luxury goods to North Korea. And it would freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The test announcement has sharply escalated world concern over North Korea’s nuclear program. But the United States and other countries have not yet confirmed whether or not an underground nuclear test was conducted, or whether conventional weapons were used.

A US government intelligence official said in Washington yesterday that initial tests of air samples taken by US planes near North Korea found no evidence of radiation, but the United States is not ready to declare that Pyongyang did not detonate a nuclear device.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said air samples taken on Tuesday, the day after North Korea said it had conducted the test, did not contain radioactive debris. He added, “It would be wrong of us I think to just go out and say with 100 percent clarity, ‘Due to no radiation being detected, therefore our conclusion is it was TNT or conventional explosives.’”

As the UN Security Council neared agreement on a resolution, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun held talks in Beijing with Chinese leaders on their isolated and defiant neighbor. “Both leaders supported the UN Security Council taking necessary and appropriate measures,” Song Min-soon, a South Korean national security adviser, told reporters, without specifying what those measures should be.

China and South Korea’s policies of political and economic engagement with Pyongyang give them more sway over North Korea than other countries and they are still hoping to bring it back to six-country talks aimed at ending its nuclear arms program.

Japan has urged a tougher response to North Korea. Its Cabinet yesterday formally approved sanctions against the North, including banning imports and blocking North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports.

Russia sent Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev to North Korea yesterday to examine ways to defuse the crisis. “We intend to do everything we can to rule out the development of events along the worst, confrontation scenario,” Alexeyev said explaining the goal of his visit in remarks posted on the ministry website www.mid.ru.