U.N. Security Council draft statement on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Following is the text of a draft Security Council presidential statement on North Korea's rocket launch, agreed by the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Japan and circulated to the full 15-nation council on Saturday.

The draft will be considered over the weekend by governments of council members and wording could be changed ahead of a council meeting called for Monday to endorse the statement. The statement could fail to be passed if there is no consensus, but this is considered unlikely.

The Security Council bears in mind the importance of maintaining peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia as a whole. The Security Council condemns the 5 April 2009 (local time) launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718 (2006).

The Security Council reiterates that the DPRK must comply fully with its obligations under Security Council resolution 1718 (2006).

The Security Council demands that the DPRK not conduct any further launch.

The Security Council also calls upon all Member States to comply fully with their obligations under resolution 1718 (2006).

The Security Council agrees to adjust the measures imposed by paragraph 8 of resolution 1718 (2006) through the designation of entities and goods, and directs the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) to undertake its tasks to this effect and to report to the Security Council by 24 April 2009, and further agrees that, if the Committee has not acted, then the Security Council will complete action to adjust the measures by 30 April 2009.

The Security Council supports the Six Party Talks, calls for their early resumption, and urges all the participants to intensify their efforts on the full implementation of the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement issued by China, the DPRK, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States and their subsequent consensus documents, with a view to achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia.

The Security Council expresses its desire for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the situation and welcomes efforts by Council members as well as other Member States to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue.