The United Nations headlines at the end of this week were supposed to focus on Ban Ki-moon, the South Korean foreign minister who is expected to be officially appointed by the UN General Assembly as Secretary General Kofi Annan's successor. Instead, the continuing search for an appropriate response to North Korea's claimed test  of a nuclear weapon threatens to dominate the Friday meeting.

On late Wednesday, the United States began circulating a draft resolution calling for a travel ban on North Koreans and a number of measures aimed at preventing North Korea from obtaining materials related to the production and delivery of nuclear weapons. The draft resolution, according to a copy obtained by the Associated Press, would also require states to ensure that North Korea, led by the enigmatic Kim Jong-Il, doesn't use their territory for nuclear proliferation activities and would seek to ban financial transactions that could be helpful in supporting a nuclear weapons program.

"There are still a lot of comments that have been made and areas of disagreement, but as we've said repeatedly, we think this requires a strong and swift response," US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said on Wednesday. "To have a vote by the end of the week, we need to move expeditiously (on Thursday) which we're going to try to do."

Despite the urgency felt by the world community in formulating a response, competing views on how harsh the response should be must first be ironed out before the Security Council will be able to pass a resolution. Japan on Friday was expected to approve a series of tough unilateral measures including blocking North Korean ships from Japanese waters and banning North Koreans from travelling to Japan.

Japan is also lobbying the UN to include a prohibition on North Korean ships from entering any port in the world and a ban on North Korean aircraft from taking off or landing in any country. Japan's tough position led to a warning from Pyongyang that the country would take "strong countermeasures." The threat came in an interview with Song Il Ho, North Korea's diplomat in charge of relations with Japan. "We never speak empty words,"  Song reportedly warned.

With concerns that China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council and North Korea's closest ally, may not be willing to go along with such harsh measures, the US draft resolution doesn't include many of the Japanese proposals. China reiterated on Thursday that North Korea's alleged nuclear test is the "wrong practice" and a mistake. But China, which provides the North Koreans with up to 90 percent of their oil supplies and 80 percent of their consumer goods, has so far opposed any harsh sanctions against the regime. China has indicated it is interested in a more limited package of sanctions focused narrowly on North Korea's nuclear program.

China is also wary of the US demand to invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would allow for measures ranging from sanctions to military force against North Korea. China only wants to see Article 41 of Chapter 7 activated -- a move that would remove the threat of military action against North Korea.

The US has also once again resisted calls to engage directly with North Korea. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was the latest to call for bilateral talks, but US President Bush on Wednesday rejected the idea, saying the North Koreans are more likely to listen if faced with a chorus of criticism from many nations.

Meanwhile, efforts aimed at determining whether North Korea actually detonated a nuclear device at all continued in parallel with the global diplomatic maneuvering. Japanese planes continue to monitor the skies over Japan for signs of a spike in radiation, but so far they have found nothing to suugest that a nuclear blast occurred. South Korean scientists have likewise failed to find signs of a nuclear explosion. Scientists say that radioactive elements already present in the atmosphere may hamper the detection of an increase and it is likewise possible that a North Korean explosion didn't release significant amounts of radiation.