The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a chairman's statement condemning the sinking of South Korea’s "Cheonan" warship earlier this year.

In the statement adopted in a plenary meeting at 10:40 p.m. Friday (KST), the council condemned the attack on the South Korean naval vessel, but did not directly blame North Korea for the naval disaster.

The 11-point statement condemns the "attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan" and "underscores the importance of preventing further such attacks." The statement also expressed its "deep concern" over the findings of a South Korean-led investigation that "concluded" North Korea "was responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan." But it also "took note from the other relevant parties including from [North Korea], which has stated that it had nothing to do with the incident."

A U.N. official says that even though North Korea was not mentioned in the statement, it hints at the North's implicity. China and Russia, two veto-wielding members of the Security Council, were opposed to directly blaming the North for the attack.

In Seoul, the Foreign Ministry welcomed the adoption of the U.N. Security Council statement. A South Korean official said the statement "virtually" condemns North Korea for the attack, and sends a strong message to Pyongyang against further similar attacks.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said earlier in the day that all five permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, China, Britain, France and the U.S. - plus South Korea and Japan, agreed on the statement.

The mulitnational investigation concluded in May that the Cheonan corvette sank near the inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea after being hit with a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine. But the North denied any involvement.