The UN Security Council today condemned what it called an attack leading to the sinking of a South Korean ship in March, but in a concession to China stopped short of explicitly blaming North Korea.
In a statement agreed to by all its 15 members, the council expressed "deep concern" over findings by a South Korean-led panel of inquiry that North Korea had sunk the naval corvette Cheonan, but noted that Pyongyang had denied responsibility.
North Korea's UN ambassador, who in the past has warned that any council action over the incident would bring a military response from Pyongyang, described the statement as a "great diplomatic victory" for his country.
The envoy, Sin Son-ho, also said in a brief statement to reporters that Pyongyang hoped to "continue the denuclearization process on the Korean peninsula through six-party talks." It was not clear whether Pyongyang now wanted to return to those talks, which it declared dead in late 2007.
The council statement was virtually identical to a draft agreed to by its five permanent members, including Pyongyang's ally China, as well as by Japan and South Korea. The draft was circulated by the United States to all members of the council yesterday.
South Korea has blamed the March 26th sinking, which took the lives of 46 of its sailors, on a North Korean torpedo attack. It took the issue to the Security Council on June 4th, requesting action to deter "further provocation by North Korea".
Putting together a council statement took weeks, slowed by China, which is believed to be worried about sacrificing influence in Pyongyang while North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il is trying to prepare succession plans in his secretive state.
The Security Council said the attack - a term ruling out that the Cheonan could have been sunk accidentally - "endangers peace and security in the region and beyond".
"The Security Council condemns the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan," it said.
It praised Seoul for a restrained reaction to the sinking, underscored "the importance of preventing further such attacks or hostilities against (South Korea)" and called for the maintenance of peace and security on the Korean peninsula.
The agreed text is a so-called presidential statement, which is written into the record of the council and requires the consent of all 15 members. But it is less weighty than the council resolution South Korea had hoped for.
Following the formal reading of the statement to the council by its current president, Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu, South Korean envoy Park In-kook shook hands with diplomats and hugged US Ambassador Susan Rice.
Both Rice and Park sought to make the best of the fact that the statement did not directly blame North Korea.
"Our view is that the message to North Korea is in fact quite clear," Ms Rice told reporters. "It uses the term 'attack' repeatedly, which I think you don't have to be a scholar of the English language to understand is not a neutral term."
A senior US official, speaking on condition he was not named, said it was "clear that it (the statement) is condemning the North Korean attack".
North Korea has suggested that the Cheonan could have been sunk accidentally, for example by hitting rocks. It has also said it would be willing to cooperate with the South on a new probe, an idea rejected by Seoul.
"I'm sure that today's strong and unanimous statement will serve to make North Korea refrain from further attack or provocation," Park told journalists. "I'm very satisfied with today's statement."
South Korea has stuck by the findings in May of its joint civilian and military investigation team -- that included experts from the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden - that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the corvette.
Reuters