New York - The United Nations Security Council failed to agree Thursday on a resolution against North Korea's claimed satellite launch over the weekend, even as Japan demanded a swift and decisive response. Ambassadors of the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain have been in negotiation sessions with Japan since Sunday, but the discussions have yielded no results.

Tokyo requested the emergency Security Council sessions after Pyonyang fired a missile over Japanese territory that fell into the Pacific Ocean, according to US and Japanese officials. North Korea insists it put a communications satellite into orbit, but no evidence of the orbiting object has been found.

Despite resistance from China and Russia, Japan insisted Thursday that the UN adopt a resolution against North Korea's missile launch. In New York, Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito called the North Korean rocket launch a big test for the Security Council.

Japan has said that North Korea's actions violated a 2006 UN resolution forbidding Pyongyang to test ballistic missiles. (dpa)