Bolstering the sanctions will involve closing loopholes in existing measures, the Wall Street Journal quoted Obama as saying after a meeting with South Korean leader Park Geun-hye in Vientiane.
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According to South-Korea, China will also play a key role in their implementation. In June, after a string of failures, North Korea sent an intermediate Musudan missile more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high in a test launch that outside analysts said showed progress in efforts to acquire the ability to strike USA forces in the region.
South Koreans watch a news program reporting about North Korea’s missile launch.
Obama – who noted that the recent launch took place while China was hosting the G20 Summit – said the two leaders had “extensive” discussions over the incident and added the two nations are “united in condemning North Korea’s continued missile launches”.
The UN Security Council imposed strong sanctions against North Korea in March, following nuclear and long-range missile tests by the country in January and February, respectively.
“We hope that the Security Council will be able to act unanimously and united in condemning this act of utter disrespect for global law and for the resolutions for the Security Council”, Koro Bessho, Japanese Ambassador to the UN, told the press.
“Once the DPRK has the capability to do so, we know what they intend to do with these missile systems, because they have told us”, Power said.
In June, North Korea tested its fifth and sixth intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the three ballistic missiles, all believed to be Rodongs, were launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju and flew across the country before splashing into the sea.
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.
The isolated communist state has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
These launches are in grave violation of the DPRK’s worldwide obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions, said the 15-nation Council in a press statement. But he didn’t mention any further council action.
The launch was widely condemned by the United States and other major powers, but analysts saw it as a clear step forward for North Korea’s nuclear strike ambitions. It requires countries to freeze the assets of companies linked to the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
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“Such actions by North Korea over the past few years only serve to further increase regional tension and hinder the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world in general”.
