The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to expand sanctions against North Korea over its rocket launch last month (December 12, 2012). Under previous Security Council resolutions, North Korea is banned from any use of ballistic-missile technology because of its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests. The Security Council reiterated its previous demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear-weapons program in a 'complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner' and cease rocket launches. The resolution also adds individuals and organizations involved in North Korea's space agency to the council's travel ban and asset-freeze sanctions list. China approved the resolution, the first in more than four years to expand the sanctions regime on Pyongyang. Washington negotiated with Beijing in recent days to adopt a compromise on a resolution.
