The U.N. Security Council's five permanent members and Japan agreed Monday to postpone a vote on possible sanctions against North Korea in response to a missile test that rattled the region last week. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the current council president, said there would be no vote Monday. China's U.N. ambassador said that council members have agreed to continue discussions on the Tokyo-sponsored resolution. Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters after a meeting with envoys from Russia, the United States, Britain, France and Japan that the resolution would have to be altered for the council to approve it. "If they wish to have a resolution, they should have a modified one, not this one," he said.
China's consideration of any resolution was considered significant, since Wang had been pressing for a weaker Security Council statement, which would not be legally binding. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Washington would look at any Chinese suggestions for changes, and the council would reevaluate "on a daily basis" whether to proceed with a vote.