In a news briefing Thursday (local time), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed the hope that UNSC members will produce a statement to condemn the North’s bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island.
The deadly attack claimed the lives of two marines and two civilians — 15 marines and three civilians were wounded.
Lavrov was quoted as saying that he hoped the UNSC will "express its opinion” regarding the provocation and that this will help ease military escalation on the Korean Peninsula.
The Russian foreign minister’s request for the UNSC statement came against the backdrop of the negative fallout of escalating tension on security in Northeast Asia.
"People were killed and this is the most important (issue),” Lavrov was quoted as saying during the briefing.
Russia is one of the five permanent UNSC members. The four other members are the United States, Britain, France and China.
The UNSC members are now holding consultations on the North’s worst provocation since the Korean War (1950-53).
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the decision on whether or not the permanent members will officially debate the attack will be determined next week.
Referring the armed attack the UNSC was considered as one of the diplomatic cards that Seoul could play to punish Pyongyang.
Nevertheless, South Korea had been less enthusiastic about the UNSC option before the Russian foreign minister’s supportive remarks.
The South learned bitter lessons from the Cheonan case. The sinking of the ship in late March near the maritime border killed 46 sailors. After a multinational investigation team found that a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the sinking, South Korea referred the case to the UNSC in early June.
After a 35-day intense debate, the five permanent members reached an agreement on issuing a presidential statement decrying the attack. But this stopped short of blaming North Korea directly for the maritime incident.
China, a decades-long benefactor of North Korea holding a veto power, was behind the lukewarm statement.
Analysts said China supports stability on the Korean Peninsula and that this caused it to stand by the North.
The UNSC statement, which failed to link North Korea directly to the sinking of the warship, fanned criticism here. This legacy on the Cheonan, therefore, led those in diplomatic circles here to be skeptical about referring the latest attack to the UNSC.
The Russian foreign minister’s support for a full UNSC discussion, however, appears to have played a role in changing the skeptical mood.
"People were killed and this is the most important". Totally agree! That's why let's do the same for N.Korean people. Aren't they also people ???? Where is any logic ?
