US working with China, South Korea and Japan on new sanctions against North Korea
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday she is working with China, South Korea and Japan on a new set of sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s most recent ballistic missile test.
The US and its allies will push for further measures to isolate North Korea in a special meeting of the UN Security Council aimed at halting the country’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons that could reach as far as the US mainland, Haley said, standing alongside her South Korean and Japanese counterparts.
The US also wants to extend sanctions to countries supporting North Korea as a way to halt the flouting of existing UN sanctions on the country.
“[The US is] looking at third-country entities who are helping North Korea and putting sanctions on them because if you are supporting North Korea you are against the rest of the international community,” Haley said.
“We need to put further pressure on North Korea to make them feel that they have to change their course,” said Japan Ambassador to the UN Koro Bessho. “The United States, [South] Korea and Japan are standing together.”
“North Korea is at the final stage of nuclear weaponization,” South Korea’s UN Ambassador Cho Tae-yul said. “Time is running out and the clock is ticking towards the tipping point.”
The security council’s meeting on Tuesday ended without a resolution, although talks will continue, UN Security Council President Elbio Rosselli told reporters.
“The members of the council are discussing the many different avenues possible to continue treating this situation,” Rosselli said. “Clearly sanctions are a way to go. The council has already gone this road and there are ample possibilities to go that way without foreclosing on any other options available.”
