North Korea’s foreign minister said the U.S. would pay “a terrifying price” for leading new worldwide sanctions against his country shortly after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for concerted pressure on Pyongyang in response to its continued missile and nuclear-weapons testing.
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North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho flew to Laos with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday, as the pair prepared for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se said in his opening remarks that “a unified message warning against North Korea” for its nuclear and missile provocations is needed.
Despite warnings by the worldwide community, the North conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, with the last one taking place in January of this year.
An official of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said there have been previous cases in which North Korea sent such flyers to the South by air using balloons, but it is the first time they arrived via the Han River.
China’s Defence Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it was pressing ahead with anti-missile system tests after pictures appeared on state television, amid anger at South Korea’s decision to deploy an advanced US anti-missile system.
“Sanctions and dialogue are compatible options as long as they can induce North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs”.
United Nations sanctions against North Korea have been tightened following the tests but Pyongyang has defiantly continued with its programme. The leaflets also were meant to tell the South that North Korea remained the victors of the Korean War.
The US is due to hold sideline talks with China and Russian Federation, but US officials said a meeting with Pyongyang’s envoy is highly unlikely. North Korea warned the United States on Tuesday that it will pay a “terrifying price” if the Korean Peninsula sinks into deeper tensions.
Ri, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said that North Korea would likely pursue another nuclear-bomb test after it carried out a nuclear detonation this year, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News agency.
He noted that the U.N. Security Council has imposed many economic sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea has accused the South of “hideous abduction”, after Seoul said in April that the 13 restaurant workers had chosen to seek asylum in the South.
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But Beijing is wary of pushing the North too far, fearing a regime collapse that could create a refugee crisis on its border and swing the regional balance of power towards the United States.
