By Emilio Lopez Romero

United Nations, Feb 7 (EFE).– The U.N. Security Council on Sunday condemned the launching of a missile by North Korea and announced that it is working on a new resolution that will include more sanctions and is expected to be approved “as soon as possible.”

The 15 members of the international body’s top decision-making organ condemned “in the most energetic terms” the latest action by the North Korean regime at the close of an urgent closed-door meeting.

The announcement was made by the rotating president of the Council, this month Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Rafael Ramirez, after the meeting lasting more than an hour at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Pyongyang said Sunday via state-run television that it had successfully launched a long-range missile and had placed an observation satellite in orbit.

The Council said that both this launch and any other made by North Korea constitute a “serious violation” of four earlier resolutions and represent a “clear threat” to international peace and security.

And the Council said that it is now working on a new resolution in response to this “dangerous” violation of Pyongyang’s international obligations.

But the top U.N. body expressed its members’ commitment to continue working toward a “peaceful” and “diplomatic” solution to this situation that would result in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said that the Security Council members will continue holding consultations in the coming days to come to a united “aggressive and appropriate” response that includes “serious consequences” for the North Korean regime. EFE