U.N. Security Council plans vote on expanding North Korea sanctions

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council plans to vote later on Tuesday on a draft resolution that condemns North Korea for its December rocket launch and calls for tightening existing U.N. sanctions, council diplomats said.

The U.N. press office confirmed that the 15-nation council would discuss North Korea at a meeting on unrelated issues that begins at 3:00 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) on Tuesday. U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity that they were planning to vote on the U.S. drafted resolution.