U.N. resolution on N. Korea nuke test likely to come in March: sources

Any United Nations resolution condemning North Korea for its latest nuclear test will likely not come out until next month at the earliest due to reservations expressed by China over imposing tougher sanctions on Pyongyang, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.

Beijing does not want to push forward overly specific sanctions, and is adverse to passing such a motion while South Korea has the rotating presidency at the U.N. Security Council, the sources said.

Seoul's delegate has been serving as president this month with the top post of the 15-member group set to be handed over to Russia next month.

Pyongyang conducted an underground nuclear test on Feb. 12, despite warnings that such a provocation will lead to a tougher response from the international community.

The content of the UNSC motion, timing and presidency of the rotating chairmanship is exerting influence on when any action will be taken, a source said, adding Washington and Beijing were still ironing out details on fresh sanctions.

China agrees to censuring the North for conducting the test in defiance of calls by the international community, yet it has been reluctant to impose punitive measures that are not directly related to weapons of mass destruction or are "too trivial" to be effective.

It took 18 days for the UNSC to iron out a resolution after the North detonated its second nuclear device in 2009, three years after the North's first-ever atomic weapons test took place. (Yonhap News)