U.N. Security Council in final stages of North Korea resolution

SEOUL, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- A tough United Nations Security Council resolution on North Korea is to be adopted soon, possibly by the end of the week.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the resolution would include "more powerful and effective measures than in the past," and that the exact wording is under negotiation, South Korean news service Money Today reported Monday.

Members of the Security Council are in the final stages of drafting the resolution, and the bill is to be adopted by the end of February, at the latest.

The ministry official said representatives have been meeting every day for 10 days. South Korea is not a permanent member, but as the country with the greatest stake in the North Korea nuclear crisis, has been asked to participate in the negotiations. Core members with stakes also include China and the United States.

More than 50 days have passed since the North tested its fourth nuclear weapon. Pyongyang claimed on Jan. 6 that it had successfully tested its first thermonuclear weapon, a hydrogen bomb. In 2013, 41 days passed before the Security Council passed Resolution 2087, which strongly condemned further provocations.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have each passed bills to strengthen economic sanctions against Pyongyang, and Seoul suspended operations at a jointly operated factory park after North Korea launched a satellite in early February.

But days before North Korea's January bomb test, the Obama administration had confidentially agreed to peace talks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The proposed talks were to be held without the precondition that North Korea take first steps to downsize its cache of nuclear weapons.

The State Department on Sunday said the exchange had taken place because it was compatible with long-term goals.

"To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty. We carefully considered their proposal, and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion," said spokesman John Kirby.