South Korean President Park Geun-hye yesterday spoke with US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, agreeing to work for “strong and effective” UN sanctions against North Korea following its weekend rocket launch.
North Korea says it put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, but the US and its allies see the launch as cover for Pyongyang’s development of ballistic missile technology that could be used to deliver a nuclear weapon across the Pacific Ocean.
In yesterday’s telephone conversation, Park and Obama agreed various sanctions outside the UN were also needed to punish North Korea, Park’s office said in a statement.
“The two leaders agreed for the two countries to cooperate closely for the adoption of strong and effective sanctions resolutions as a united response by the international community against the North’s nuclear test and a rocket launch using ballistic missile technology,” the presidential Blue House said.
The UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned North Korea’s rocket launch and promised to take action, while Washington vowed to ensure the 15-nation body imposed “serious consequences” on Pyongyang as soon as possible.
However, China has resisted harsh sanctions sought by the US and South Korea following the North’s Jan. 6 test of a nuclear device that Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb.
A senior US official on Monday said that China agrees any new UN resolution on North Korea will include additional sanctions and go beyond previous steps, but Washington is urging Beijing to put even more pressure on Pyongyang.
“It’s clear to me that our Chinese friends have indicated that the UN Security Council’s response will include sanctions and does need to go beyond previous resolutions,” he said.
“The key of course is what exactly are the specific actions that we are going to take together and that’s the focus of our efforts right now,” the official said. “We have made clear that China can do more and needs to do more.”
Proposed sanctions have not been made public, but one diplomat said that Washington was hoping to tighten international restrictions on the North’s banking system. Beijing was reluctant to support that step for fear of worsening conditions in its neighbor, the diplomat said.
This week, the top US military commander will discuss North Korea’s latest satellite launch with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts as part of efforts to strengthen military ties between the three countries, US defense officials said on Monday.
In Tokyo, Japan’s parliament yesterday condemned the North’s rocket launch, calling it a serious provocation against international peace and demanding that the nation immediately stop such activity.
In a resolution passed unanimously, the lower house urged the international community to work together and quickly adopt a new Security Council resolution calling for tough new sanctions against Pyongyang. It also urged Japan’s government to separately impose its own sanctions to address issues including the North’s nuclear and missile programs and the abductions of Japanese citizens by the North decades ago.
Abe’s Cabinet is expected to approve the sanctions by the end of the week, media reports said.
Experts say the sanctions are expected to largely restore those Japan lifted in 2014 when North Korea pledged to reinvestigate the fate of the Japanese abductees.
Among the sanctions is a ban on North Koreans visiting Japan and a money transfer to the North. The entry ban also affects some of the ethnic Koreans in Japan holding senior positions at their de-facto embassy in Tokyo.
The mild sanctions underscore Tokyo’s fear that a strong reaction would damage its hopes of resolving the abduction issue, experts said.
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