Japan won't insist on Monday UN North Korea vote-PM

TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan would not insist on a vote today on a UN Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on North Korea for test-launching missiles last week.

The resolution is opposed by China -- Pyongyang's biggest ally -- and Moscow, which both have veto power on the council, though analysts have said Beijing might be reluctant to veto a resolution and expose a rift with Washington and other powers.

''The vice minister of China is going to North Korea to persuade them. Under such circumstances, there is no need to insist on a vote on the 10th,'' Koizumi told reporters.

A Chinese delegation including Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is in charge of diplomacy with North Korea, arrived in Pyongyang today for a six-day visit.

Koizumi added that Japan would continue to seek an early vote and that it was opposed to switching its proposal to a non-binding chairman's statement, which is likely to win support from China as well as Russia.

REUTERS KD RN1540