The governing board of the UN's nuclear watchdog passed a resolution yesterday declaring North Korea in breach of UN safeguards and sent the issue to the UN Security Council, a diplomat said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation governing board said Pyongyang was in "non-compliance," a diplomatic code word which brings the issue to the Security Council. The Security Council has the power to take steps against North Korea, including economic sanctions.
Russia and Cuba abstained from the vote, the diplomat from a board member state said. Russia has said it was opposed to escalating the issue and preferred handling the crisis through quiet diplomacy outside the UN.
"The resolution as drafted was passed and is going on to New York," the diplomat said, referring to the UN Security Council headquarters.
There was no immediate official comment from the IAEA. The draft resolution said the IAEA "calls upon the DPRK [North Korea] to remedy urgently its non-compliance with its safeguards agreement by taking all steps deemed necessary by the agency."
The draft resolution also called upon North Korea to peacefully resolve the crisis through diplomatic means.
Just before the IAEA board started meeting, a diplomat from a European member state said there was broad agreement among board members the crisis should go to the Security Council despite some reservations about possibly provoking North Korea.
Pyongyang has said it would treat economic sanctions as a declaration of war.
"Everyone agrees that at some level the Security Council has to deal with the issue, but the disagreement is about what it should do and whether it is the right time," he said.
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