Chronicle Editor
The United States, South Korea and China have welcomed tough new UN sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday praised the approval of new UN sanctions agreed a day earlier, calling the move a “very good outcome.”
The Security Council unanimously adopted the US-led resolution, which bans mineral and seafood exports worth more than $1bn, after the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha echoed Tillerson’s praise for the approved sanctions as a “very, very good outcome”.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the sanctions were the right response, but repeated a call for dialogue.
The diplomats are meeting in Manila, the Philippine capital, as foreign ministers from across Asia gather for a regional ASEAN summit.
Tillerson said he and his South Korean counterpart plan to discuss the sanctions during their meeting, along with next steps to pressure the North.
Washington wants eventually to talk to North Korea, Tillerson has said, but thinks such discussions would be futile if Pyongyang intends on maintaining its nuclear weapons.
The US secretary of state is also due to meet with diplomats from China and other countries central to the North Korea debate.
Jean Lee, a fellow at the Wilson Centre, said it was “not the right time” for Tillerson to engage with his North Korean counterpart. “The US and its allies will be looking for some proof and concrete steps taken by the North Korean side to show that they are willing to discuss a freeze or step back from the nuclear provocations, before they even begin discussing engagement,” she told Al Jazeera from Seoul, South Korea’s capital.
Meanwhile, Wang held bilateral talks with North Korea’s top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, on the sidelines of the ongoing Manila summit. “We had an intensive conversation, China urges North Korea to remain calm in dealing with the recent decision given by the UN Security Council,” the Chinese minister said, adding he urged the North against violating the UN decision. — AFP
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