In its declaration, the United Nations also urged all countries to “redouble their efforts” to ensure that the existing sanctions against North Korea are fully implemented and warned of the possibility of fresh sanctions against Pyongyang.
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The March sanctions, among other things, also require mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang; and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in “illicit activities”.
It called on North Korea to “refrain from further actions, including nuclear tests, in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions”.
The council gave no indication of what “further significant measures” it might take if North Korea continues conducting tests and trying to enhance its nuclear capabilities.
China, North Korea’s northern neighbor and closest ally, has always been resistant to tough action against the Kim regime.
Local news agency Yonhap stated that Park and Obama reaffirmed their plan to position a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery in South Korea, but they also vowed to maintain communication with Beijing over the North Korean nuclear issue.
The South Korean leader said, “Unequivocal words and actions by ASEAN member states that have maintained certain relations with North Korea will play a crucial role in making Pyongyang recognize the firm resolve of the global community (to oppose its provocative moves)”.
Which may help explain the surprisingly quick condemnation by the Security Council.
The three sides condemned North Korea’s violations of U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions and emphasized the need for council members to respond more effectively. Seoul and Washington countered that the system is needed to handle security threats posed by North Korea.
North Korea continues its threatening and provocative behavior in the Asia-Pacific region through its missile launches, Obama said.
But despite the global chorus of disapproval and tough sanctions, Pyongyang is unrepentant – continuing to ignore the worldwide community’s calls for a halt to its weapons programme. Describing the combat performance of the rockets as “perfect”, KCNA said Kim expressed “great satisfaction over the successful successive firing drill of ballistic rockets”.
North Korea fired three ballistic missiles towards Japan on Monday, September 5.
The missiles likely landed in the sea 200 to 250 km (120 to 160 miles) west of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern-most main island, sources at Japan’s defense ministry said Monday.
“I would note there were very strong and numerous voices in the room for doing more”, Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters.
“The most obvious difference from the last test is the change in warhead”, Hanham said. The missiles flew about 1,000 kilometers and fell into water not far from Japan’s coast, TASS writes.
Kim described the August test as the “greatest success” and said it put the United States mainland within striking range.
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“We have over many years seen North Korea try to find ways to evade sanctions, try to find ways to access foreign currency, try to find ways to access sensitive technologies using front-companies for their activities”.
