(For full coverage of the missile crisis, click [nSP469853]) April 5 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the North Korean missile launch at 1900 GMT on Sunday, a U.N. diplomat said. Diplomats say Japan and the United States want the 15-member council to pass a resolution condemning the launch and calling for tougher enforcement of existing U.N. sanctions against North Korea for a 2006 nuclear test and missile exercises. Following are answers to questions about what might happen at the meeting. WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN? Several Security Council diplomats have told Reuters that no country was seriously entertaining the idea of imposing new sanctions on North Korea. The starting point for discussions will likely be tougher enforcement of earlier sanctions. The likely scenario is diplomats will discuss plans for a resolution on Sunday and then start hard negotiations on a text, a process that could drag on for days. Diplomats said the Chinese delegation was suggesting a launch might not be a violation of resolution 1718 but the majority view on the council is that it would be. The diplomats said Russia had signalled it might be moving closer to the Western view. China, the closest thing North Korea can claim as a major ally and veto-wielding Security Council member, is almost certain to block any new sanctions and oppose the tightening of existing sanctions, analysts said. China, which shares a long border with North Korea, would be essential for the tightening of existing sanctions that halt most of the North's overseas arms sales, but analysts said Beijing appears reluctant to agree to such moves. "China's principle is only to support United Nations sanctions in the most extreme cases. Although the launch was serious, it was much less serious than the nuclear test," said Shi Yinhong, professor of international security at Renmin University in Beijing. "Sanctions also have had little effect, and only serve to increase tensions. WHAT ARE THE EXISTING RESOLUTIONS? U.N. Security Council resolution 1718 of October 2006 imposes arms and financial sanctions on North Korea after it conducted its first nuclear test three months after firing its longest-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. It also bans the sale of luxury goods to the North. U.N. Security Council resolution 1695 of July 2006 after the North's launch of the Taepodong-2 missile bans trading of material, technology and financial resources that could be used in the North's weapons of mass destruction programmes. U.S. Treasury Department regulations ban transactions by U.S. firms with some North Korean entities and transactions involving North Korean vessels. Imports of goods made in the North also require prior approval. HOW WILL PYONGYANG REACT? Pyongyang has said if the United Nations imposes a punishment it could restart its plant that makes arms-grade plutonium and quit the six-party talks process, which aims to end the country's nuclear programme. It has also said it would take similar action if any statement is made that chastises it for the launch. "North Korea is likely to judge that its negotiating position has been strengthened now that is has both the 'nuclear and missile cards'. So they are likely to take a very tough stance toward the international community," said Shunji Hiraiwa from Shizuoka Prefectural University in Japan. ADDITIONAL PUNISHMENT OPTIONS The United States, Japan and South Korea could also seek greater U.N. power to inspect goods traded by the North. But they may find North Korea's neighbours China and Russia are still reluctant to go along. They could also look to impose new unilateral sanctions but know the impact of such moves are limited at best due to the meagre economic contacts they still have with North Korea. In return for progress North Korea made in nuclear disarmament, the United States said last October it had removed the North from a U.S. terrorism blacklist and from the terms of its Trading with the Enemy Act, which ended some trade sanctions. There appears to be little indication now that Washington is considering putting North Korea back on the blacklist. "What happens at the U.N. will influence any future negotiation process (with North Korea). What the North Koreans are looking for is a divided field (among the members of the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament)," said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Asia Foundation. (Source: the United Nations, U.S. State and Treasury Departments, South Korean Foreign Ministry, Reuters) (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim in Seoul, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by John Chalmers)
Protesters demonstrate against war outside Prague Castle April 5, 2009. Thousands of Czechs are expected to turn up for U.S. President Barack Obama's speech at a square outside the medieval Prague ...
