Hill stands by UN draft resolution on North Korea

BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) US diplomat Christopher Hill today stood by a UN draft resolution to slap sanctions on North Korea for conducting missile tests, saying a strong unanimous statement needed to be sent to Pyongyang.

''We continue to be guided by the need to make a strong united statement to the North Koreans,'' Hill told reporters at his Beijing hotel before heading to a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Backers of the UN resolution yesterday put off the vote for another day while a Chinese vice premier and a vice foreign minister visited Pyongyang.

Hill said North Korea needed to return to six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China, and to implement a joint statement issued last September.

''It is in their interest to get here and get moving on that document,'' Hill said.

The talks stalled in November because Pyongyang objected to US financial sanctions based on accusations North Korea counterfeited US currency and trafficked drugs.

In Pretoria, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Jun said yesterday that Pyongyang was willing to return to six-party talks if the United States dropped financial sanctions.

China condemned the Japan-sponsored resolution yesterday, calling it an over-reaction that would split the Security Council. South Korea has also criticised it.

Hill defended the resolution saying: ''I think it's a very good resolution and the fact of the matter is there are co-sponsors from all over the world on that resolution.'' He added that there needed to be a ''strong unanimous statement''.

China on Monday had circulated a tough statement that used similar language to the resolution but would make the sanctions voluntary rather than mandatory.

Diplomats at the United Nations said that China had indicated it would probably use its veto, not just abstain, in a vote on the resolution.

REUTERS SRS RAI0630