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The United Nations Security Council is expected as early as Friday to call for expanded sanctions and inspections for North Korea in response to its nuclear weapons test last month.

The U.S. and its allies on Wednesday agreed with China and Russia on a text hammered out during two weeks of intense negotiations. Moscow and Beijing consented to the U.S. draft after language on the inspection of North Korean cargo ships in international waters was diluted.

A previous version said the Security Council "authorized" all U.N. nations to inspect the ships for nuclear-related material and other contraband, with the consent of the flag state. The agreed text merely "calls upon" member governments to do so. Flag states that refuse to have a ship boarded must direct the vessel to "an appropriate and convenient port" for inspection.
[UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday at The Wall Street Journal.] The Wall Street Journal.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday at The Wall Street Journal.

Ninety-five nations have signed up to the U.S. Proliferation Security Initiative, which encourages them to inspect ships in international waters for nuclear-related goods. It does not have the backing of a treaty or a General Assembly resolution, but the new security council resolution implicitly endorses the voluntary practice. South Korea joined the initiative after the test blast last month.

The resolution calls for expanding items banned in an October 2006 resolution -- but never fully implemented -- that was adopted days after Pyongyang's first nuclear test. Newly prohibited, according to the resolution, would be the export of all North Korean weapons, excluding small arms if they are reported to the U.N. North Korean vessels believed to be carrying contraband are also to be denied refueling services, the resolution says.

The U.S. and its allies had sought a mandatory ban on new financial transactions, including loans to North Korea, with waivers for development or humanitarian aims. The resolution only calls on governments to comply.

Main points agreed upon in the new U.N. resolution:

* Calls on member nations to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying contraband in international waters and prevent them from refueling
* Expands heavy-arms import and export embargo to most weapons
* Calls for ban on new loans, grants, export credits or financial assistance to North Korea, except for development and humanitarian aims

Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the UN, said the resolution "provides a very strong, very credible, very appropriate response to the provocative nuclear tests that North Korea launched."

"The message that the Council will send should it adopt this resolution is that North Korea's behavior is unacceptable, they must pay a price, they are to return without conditions to a process of negotiations, and that the consequences they will face are significant," Ms. Rice said.

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's U.N. ambassador, called the measure "balanced" and "carefully targeted to the nuclear and ballistic regimes of North Korea." Concerned that inspections on the high seas could lead to conflict, Mr. Churkin pointed to a reference from the U.N. charter inserted in the resolution making it clear the measure would not authorize military force.

"We do this with a heavy heart because having sanctions and things like that is not our choice, but a certain political message must be sent and some measures must be taken because we are facing a very real situation of proliferation risks," Mr. Churkin said.

China's ambassador to the U.N., Liu Zhenmin, told reporters, "I hope countries will endorse the text." A spokeswoman at China's mission to the U.N. in New York said she was not authorized to comment further. Ms. Rice, asked by a reporter whether China would take part in the voluntary inspection regime, said "by definition, yes."

News of agreement on the text came after midnight in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where the government had no reaction. The reclusive regime has said in the past inspection of its ships would be considered an act of war.

"North Korea will react very negatively, but I'm not sure what measures they may take," said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a meeting with Wall Street Journal editors and reporters on Wednesday.

The resolution calls for all U.N. members to report within 45 days on how they have implemented it. It also says that a council committee has 30 days to name individuals, companies and goods to be sanctioned, after which the Security Council itself would decide.

The October 2006 resolution banned the import of luxury goods, for instance, but they have never been identified. A U.N. subcommittee just ruled in April on freezing the assets of three North Korean companies.