国际英语新闻：UNSC fails to reach consensus on Korean crisis

UNITED NATIONS/SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Sunday failed to reach a consensus on the crisis of the Korean Peninsula after eight hours of closed-door consultations, due to the gaps among the council members, diplomats said here.

"While we still are waiting for firm clear instructions from every capital. I think its safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to be bridged," said Susan Rice, the U.S. UN ambassador.

"We also outlined our position that it is important for the two sides to act in a fashion that promotes peace and security, " Rice told reporters.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, speaks following an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council regarding tensions on the Korean Peninsula at the UN Headquarters in New York December 19, 2010.

"We have also spent much of today trying to discuss in the context of the Council how we might respond to the call of the Russian Federation for a Council press statement," she said.

Tensions on the Peninsula are escalating as South Korea said it would conduct a live-fire drill at noon on Monday from Yeonpyeong island.

Residents of Yeonpyeong were told to take shelter ahead of the drill, which officials there said was part of routine exercises suspended after the DPRK's deadly artillery shelling on the island on Nov. 23.

Russia asked the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting on Saturday in a bid to ease the rising tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Sunday that the Secuity Council members failed to reach an agreement on his proposal that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon immediately sends a special representative to the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for consultations on how to settle the current crisis of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

"That idea of the secretary-general appointing an envoy did receive considerable support, strong support I could say from a number of members of the Security Council. So I hope that idea can still be pursued," he said. "Because now we have a situation of very serious political tension and no game plan on the diplomatic side."

Churkin also said that he regretted that the Council did not meet on Saturday on the current mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"We were not successful in bridging all the gaps," Churkin said.

"Let me reiterate, very strong concern of the Russian Federation that within hours there may be a serious aggravation of tensions, a serious conflict for that matter, so in the big chamber when we had this private meeting which was also of course asked for by the Russian Federation, we reiterated a call for restraint on both parties in no uncertain terms," Churkin said.

The ROK will conduct a live-fire drill on Monday from a western border island, Yeonpyeong Island, which was hit by DPRK fire during the artillery shelling exchanges last month.