联合国安理会强烈谴责朝鲜上个星期试图发射一枚远程火箭，并且同意对这个越来越孤立的国家施加新的制裁。安理会一致通过了一项“主席声明”。声明说，朝鲜星期五的发射“严重违背”了安理会现有的旨在制止平壤使用弹道导弹技术的决议。与此同时，日本媒体援引外交界消息人士的话说，朝鲜撤销了对国际原子能机构观察员参观朝鲜核设施的邀请。据报道，朝鲜采取这一措施是为了报复美国因朝鲜上个星期五试图发射卫星而停止粮食援助的决定。朝鲜这次失败的发射只持续了几分钟，火箭就解体坠入黄海，让平壤十分难堪。
美国本月是安理会轮值主席国。美国常驻联合国代表赖斯说，朝鲜的行为引发东亚大部分地区“严重的安全担忧”。她说，如果平壤再次无视国际社会的要求，安理会将采取相应的行动。联合国的谴责声明还要求朝鲜今后不要再使用弹道导弹技术进行发射，并以“全面的、可核实的和不可逆转的方式”放弃“一切核武器和现有的核项目”。朝鲜2006年和2009年都在火箭发射后进行了核试验。朝鲜对联合国的声明没有立即作出回应。
The U.N. Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea for its attempted launch of a long-range rocket last week, and agreed to impose new sanctions on the increasingly isolated nation. The council unanimously adopted what is known as a "presidential statement," which called Friday's launch "a serious violation of existing Security Council resolutions aimed at halting Pyongyang's use of ballistic missile technology. Meanwhile, Japanese media reports quote diplomatic sources saying Pyongyang has rescinded an invitation for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities. The reports say the action was taken in retaliation for a U.S. decision to withhold food aid because of Friday's attempted satellite launch. The failed launch lasted only a few minutes and ended in embarrassment for Pyongyang when the rocket broke apart and fell into the Yellow Sea.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who heads the Security Council this month, said the effort caused "grave security concerns" across much of East Asia. She noted that if Pyongyang chooses to defy the international community again, the Security Council will act accordingly. The U.N. condemnation demands that the North refrain from any further launches using ballistic missile technology and abandon "all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner." In 2006 and 2009, North Korea followed rocket launches with nuclear tests. There was no immediate North Korean response to the latest U.N. resolution.
