Spotlight: World community urges DPRK compliance with obligations, resumption of dialogue

Countries in the world have expressed their support for a newly-adopted UN resolution on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which China said should serve as a new starting point for a political settlement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the Security Council's move, saying the DPRK "must return to full compliance with its international obligations."

"This firm response by the Security Council should put an end to the cycle of provocation and lead to the resumption of dialogue in accordance with the unified view of the international community," Ban said in a statement.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Wednesday said in a statement that "the fact that this resolution was passed unanimously demonstrates that the international community is prepared to take tough measures in response to such violations."

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement that with a unanimous decision, the international community demonstrates that it does not accept the threat to regional security and world peace.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called on the DPRK to immediately comply with its international obligations and to "conduct the outright, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear and missile programs."

As close neighbors to the DPRK, Japan, South Korea and China also expressed their viewpoints on the UN resolution.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe showed his support to the resolution immediately after the adoption and he strongly urged the DPRK not to conduct further nuclear tests and rocket launches.

The prime minister also called for close international coordination so as to resolve the nuclear and rocket issues.

The South Korean government said in a statement that the new UN resolution was an expression of the international community's firm will.

The UN Security Council unanimously approved Wednesday, in a 15-0 vote, new sanctions against the DPRK, which conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and went ahead with a long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7.

However, China said that the sanctions are not an end in themselves, and they can not fundamentally solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

After the council approved the document, Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said "today's resolution should be a new starting point and a paving stone for the political settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula."

In this regard, Liu said China urges the parties concerned to push forward with the negotiations to advance denuclearization and replace the armistice mechanism with a peace mechanism in parallel.

"While keeping the general direction of denuclearization, this approach accommodates in a balanced way main concerns of the parties involved, helps find a breaking point for the resumption of talks, and is practicable," he said.

"China is willing to work with the parties concerned to explore in-depth specific steps of putting this idea in practice and hopes that all parties concerned will work together towards this end," he added.

Vitaly Churkin, Russian permanent representative to the UN, also stressed that the newly-passed sanctions, though quite tough, are not an end in themselves, but rather just a way to ensure that all parties involved return to the negotiating table.

"The United Nations Security Council resolution on DPRK leaves Pyongyang with an option to return to the six-party talks, which should be resumed as soon as possible," he said.

The DPRK launched several short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast hours after the UN resolution, according to the South Korea's defense ministry.

South Korea said it was monitoring "any additional movements from the North." Endi