(VOVworld) – The UN Security Council has pushed back to Wednesday a vote on imposing a new raft of sanctions on North Korea, following a request from Russia, diplomats said.

Kim Jong-un, seen in a photo released on Feb. 15, sparked an international outcry after  North Korea conducted a nuclear test in early January. (Photo: KCNA/Reuters)

The vote had been expected Tuesday afternoon but Russia invoked a 24 hour procedural review, according to the US mission to the United Nations. In a televised speech Tuesday ahead of the vote, South Korean President Park Geun-hye says the door of dialogues is still open but the international community must continue to pressure North Korea until the regime proves it is committed to giving up its nuclear weapons development program. Her statement came after US submitted the resolution to the UN Security Council to increase sanctions on North Korea in response to its latest nuclear test and long-range missile launch. The draft, seen by Reuters, would require UN member states to conduct mandatory inspections of all cargo passing through their territory to or from North Korea to look for illicit goods.