Russia to back UNSC statement on N. Korea

By Kang Hyun-kyung

South Korea’s push to take North Korea’s latest deadly attack on an island in the West Sea to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) gained momentum after Russia, a permanent council member, gave its explicit support.

In a news briefing Thursday (local time), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed the hope that UNSC members will produce a statement to condemn the North’s bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island.

The deadly attack claimed the lives of two marines and two civilians — 15 marines and three civilians were wounded.

Lavrov was quoted as saying that he hoped the UNSC will “express its opinion” regarding the provocation and that this will help ease military escalation on the Korean Peninsula.

The Russian foreign minister’s request for the UNSC statement came against the backdrop of the negative fallout of escalating tension on security in Northeast Asia.

“People were killed and this is the most important (issue),” Lavrov was quoted as saying during the briefing.

Russia is one of the five permanent UNSC members. The four other members are the United States, Britain, France and China.

The UNSC members are now holding consultations on the North’s worst provocation since the Korean War (1950-53).

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the decision on whether or not the permanent members will officially debate the attack will be determined next week.

Referring the armed attack the UNSC was considered as one of the diplomatic cards that Seoul could play to punish Pyongyang.

Nevertheless, South Korea had been less enthusiastic about the UNSC option before the Russian foreign minister’s supportive remarks.

The South learned bitter lessons from the Cheonan case. The sinking of the ship in late March near the maritime border killed 46 sailors. After a multinational investigation team found that a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the sinking, South Korea referred the case to the UNSC in early June.

After a 35-day intense debate, the five permanent members reached an agreement on issuing a presidential statement decrying the attack. But this stopped short of blaming North Korea directly for the maritime incident.

China, a decades-long benefactor of North Korea holding a veto power, was behind the lukewarm statement.

Analysts said China supports stability on the Korean Peninsula and that this caused it to stand by the North.

The UNSC statement, which failed to link North Korea directly to the sinking of the warship, fanned criticism here. This legacy on the Cheonan, therefore, led those in diplomatic circles here to be skeptical about referring the latest attack to the UNSC.

The Russian foreign minister’s support for a full UNSC discussion, however, appears to have played a role in changing the skeptical mood.

러시아 유엔 안보리 성명 채택 지지

연평도 포격 사건을 유엔 안보리에 회부하려는 한국의 노력이 안보리 상임 이사국 중 하나인 러시아의 분명한 지지의사 표시로 탄력을 받고 있다.

세르게이 라브로프 러시아 외교장관은 25일 브리핑에서 상임위 회원국들이 북한의 포격을 비난하는 성명을 채택하기를 희망했다.

북한의 포격으로 해병 2명과 민간인 2명이 사망하고 15명의 해병과 민간인 3명이 부상을 당했다.

라브로프 외교장관은 “유엔 안보리가 이 도발에 대해 의견을 표시하고 이것이 한반도에서의 긴장상태를 해소하기를 바란다”고 말했다.

라브로프 외교장관은 “민간인들이 사망했고 이것은 가장 중요한 문제”라고 말했다.