UN Council to discuss North Korea nuclear crisis

A US ENVOY yesterday said the North Korean nuclear crisis would come before the UN Security Council as soon as this week, and South and North Korea held high-level talks that were overshadowed by the dispute.

An official of the UN nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna said no decision had been taken on whether to refer the matter to the Security Council, but that the agency’s governors and director general were engaged in intense debate.

A referral of the crisis to the Security Council would be a diplomatic victory for Washington, which says the dispute is between North Korea and the rest of the world, not just the US. North Korea, which seeks US security guarantees and economic aid, insists that other parties should not get involved.