North Korea threatens to nuke D.C.

The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday that's based on a draft text negotiated by the US and China – North Korea’s closest ally. This suggests Beijing may be ready to try to slow its neighbor.

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Security Council members vote for tough new sanctions against North Korea for its latest nuclear test, during a meeting at UN headquarters Thursday. The unanimous vote by the UN's most powerful body sparked a furious Pyongyang to threaten a nuclear strike against the United States.

Bebeto Matthews/AP

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WASHINGTON

North Korea ratcheted up its violent and threatening rhetoric as the United Nations Security Council on Thursday approved a resolution of wide-ranging sanctions targeting the country’s nuclear program and proliferation activities.

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The UN Security Council has voted unanimously for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, a move that sparked a furious Pyongyang to threaten a nuclear strike against the United States.

Pyongyang has a habit of responding to punitive action with vituperative language. But its particularly graphic talk this time – it vowed to incinerate Washington with a nuclear attack – could have been prompted by two things, North Korea analysts say.

First, the new resolution, passed unanimously by the 15-member Council following North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 12, is based on a draft text negotiated by the United States and China – North Korea’s closest ally. This suggests Beijing is alarmed by the North’s nuclear activities and is ready to try to slow them.

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Second, the resolution, if enforced by UN member states (including China), affects such a panoply of North Korea’s funding sources and capabilities that it could curtail the country’s future ability to build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

“This resolution – if enforced – will degrade their future capacity” to continue and advance their nuclear program and illicit proliferation activities, says George Lopez, a professor of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.