Updated: 3:31 p.m. ET July 10, 2006
UNITED NATIONS - Supporters of a resolution that would impose limited sanctions against North Korea agreed to delay a vote in the hope that China can pressure Pyongyang to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program and halt missile tests, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Monday.

Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding nations on the Security Council — who are divided over sanctions — met with Japan, which sponsored the resolution, as a Chinese delegation arrived in North Korea pledging friendship and deeper ties.

Bolton told reporters after the meeting that the resolution’s supporters, including the U.S., Britain, France and other European council members, decided not to press for a vote on Monday “while the diplomacy in Pyongyang proceeds.”

“We think it’s important to keep the focus on Pyongyang, which after all is the source of this problem, and to provide maximum support for, and leverage on the Chinese mission to Pyongyang,” he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. nuclear envoy will return to Beijing on Tuesday for more talks with Chinese officials on North Korea's recent missile tests, a news report said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is in Tokyo after visiting China and South Korea on tour of Asia to coordinate a response to last week's test launches.

Hill will return to China on Tuesday, Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified U.S. officials in Washington.

Japanese pre-emptive strike?
Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on North Korea’s missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible Security Council vote.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters his government wants a vote on the measure “as soon as possible.”

“I think we must send a message that’s as clear as possible” to North Korea, he said.
Japan was badly rattled by North Korea’s missile tests and several government officials openly discussed whether the country ought to take steps to better defend itself, including setting up the legal framework to allow Tokyo to launch a pre-emptive strike against Northern missile sites.

“If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack ... there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.