The non-binding statement was agreed Saturday in closed-door talks among the five permanent members of the council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Japan and was later submitted to the 10 non-permanent council members.

Mexico's UN Ambassador Claude Heller, the council chair this month, told reporters that the compromise text submitted by his US counterpart, Susan Rice, at an impromptu meeting of the 15-member body, "is an excellent basis for a consensual and clear message by the Security Council."

He said council members would now consult with their respective capitals ahead of a new council meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon "to approve the statement" that had been sought by Japan.

"What is important is that the Security Council acts in a very unified manner," he added. "I hope this goal will be achieved on Monday with a formal adoption of this draft."

"What the Council can do, and we hope will do, through the adoption of this statement is to send a very clear message to North Korea that what they have done under the guise of a satellite launch is in fact a violation of their obligations and indeed that there are consequences for such actions", Rice told reporters.

The proposed statement also called for the council "to adjust the measures imposed" in Resolution 1718 to include further sanctions against designated North Korean entities.

The entities once designated "would be subject to an asset freeze and the goods will be prohibited to be transferred to or from the DPRK," Rice said.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a number of North Korean companies were to be subjected to an assets freeze by the end of the month.

Resolution 1718 provided for the creation of a Security Council panel to monitor sanctions against Pyongyang, but the commission was never activated so as not to jeopardize the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.

The proposed statement, which falls short of a UN resolution that carries more weight, would also condemn last Sunday's North Korean rocket launch, "which is in contravention of Security Council Resolution 1718."

That resolution, adopted in 2006 after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, bars Pyongyang from conducting missile-related activities.

The text put forward by the US delegation also urges "a peaceful and diplomatic solution and welcomes efforts by council members as well as other member states to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue."

The talks, hosted by China and including the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia, have stalled since December after Pyongyang refused to agree on ways of verifying its claims on nuclear disarmament moves.

The United States, Japan, Britain and France had pressed for a strong UN response in the form of a resolution to the launch but China and Russia balked and urged restraint so as not to harm prospects for resuming the six-party talks.

Pyongyang has warned of "strong steps" if the United Nations censures it.

Stephen Bosworth, the US special envoy on North Korea, said before the launch that the United States would work closely with its negotiation partners so that "after the dust of the missile settles a bit, we get back to the longer-term priority" of denuclearization talks.

A presidential statement must be passed by all 15 members of the council, but since major powers are supporting it, passage is seen as likely.

The New York Times reported however that Libya, a rotating Security Council member, expressed reservations Saturday, arguing that launching a satellite for peaceful purposes was the right of all nations.

earlier related report
US on tightrope seeking NKorea dialogue: experts
One week after North Korea defiantly launched a rocket, the United States is working on a delicate balance between condemning the communist state and nudging it back to dialogue.

The United States, backed by Japan and South Korea, wants the UN Security Council to send a strong message to North Korea.

A draft statement calling for new sanctions against Pyongyang was agreed to Saturday by five permanent members of the council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Japan and is to be submitted to the full council on Monday.

The UN push risks provoking North Korea, which had warned that even discussion by the Security Council of its rocket test -- seen in Pyongyang as a satellite launch -- would lead it to bolt the already deadlocked six-nation disarmament talks.

The new administration of President Barack Obama has been unequivocal that it seeks to resume six-nation talks -- and North Korea has so far been silent on whether it would carry out its threats to quit the dialogue.

Two days ahead of the widely expected launch, Stephen Bosworth, the US special envoy on North Korea, said that the six-way talks -- involving China, the United States, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan -- should resume within a "reasonable" timeframe.

"We will be working very close with our partners to ensure that after the dust of the missile settles a bit, we get back to the longer-term priority of the six-party talks," Bosworth said.

Analysts said the Obama team was mindful of the lessons under previous president George W. Bush, who branded North Korea part of an "axis of evil" before eventually entering the six-way talks.

In its first years, the Bush administration saw the failure of trying to deliberately ignore Pyongyang, said Scott Snyder, director of the Asia Foundation's Center for US-Korea Policy,

"The North Koreans don't abide neglect," Snyder said. "They will make demands in one way or another -- through further escalation, possibly further missile tests -- to draw the attention of the international community."

Snyder said the key was "letting the North Koreans know that the only way out there available to them is the one that has been offered" -- talks backed by "the collective will of regional players involved in the six-party talks."

North Korea tested an atom bomb in 2006 and a year later reached a six-nation aid-for-denuclearization deal, which soon stalled due to disputes over how to verify Pyongyang was carrying out its promises.

Pyongyang has pushed for direct talks with the United States, which under Bush insisted that any decision had to come through six-way talks.

"Some people speculate that past precedent has taught the North that if they misbehave, the US reaction is generally to seek to get back to the negotiating table pretty quickly," said Alan Romberg, a fellow at the Stimson Center think tank and a former State Department spokesman.

"It may think that after some reasonably short hiatus they will get their way, including the US accepting bilateral negotiations," he said.

But Romberg doubted that the Obama administration would support bilateral talks, saying the new president has shown a dedication in his first months in office to involving US allies.

Charles Pritchard, a US negotiator with North Korea under Bush, said he expected the Obama administration to take a broader approach to North Korea that does not get so tied down to the intractable nuclear issue.

"I can expect that the discussion -- whether in the six-paty talks or bilaterally -- will be on an expanded agenda, one which looks at proliferation as a formal discussion topic," he said.

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