South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, have reportedly agreed to exert extra pressure on North Korea.
South Korea’s presidential office spokesman Park Soo-hyun said on Sunday that Moon and Trump had in a Sunday telephone conversation strongly condemned the latest missile launch by North Korea and agreed to work with the international community to implement the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s latest resolution against Pyongyang.
“The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation, and exert stronger and practical sanctions on North Korea so that it realizes provocative actions lead to further diplomatic isolation and economic pressure,” he said.
UNSC resolution 2375
On Monday, the UNSC unanimously voted to adopt new sanctions against North Korea over its missile and nuclear activities. The resolution, drafted by the US, was the eighth against Pyongyang over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs since 2006.
The new sanctions against Pyongyang would cut 90 percent of the country’s yearly trade and 30 percent of its annual oil imports.
On Friday, North Korea fired a medium-to-long range Hwasong-12 missile over Japan a few hours after it threatened to “sink” its southeastern neighbor. The missile flew for about 20 minutes before crashing into the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 kilometers east of Japan’s Hokkaido.
It had fired another missile over Japan days earlier.
North Korea says its missile and nuclear programs are meant to defend it against US hostility. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently said he sought “equilibrium” in military power with the US.
The US, an ally of Japan that has extensive military presence in the region, has reacted harshly to North Korea’s missile launches in particular and the weapons programs in general.
Tensions have significantly increased in recent months, and Russia, China, France, Iran, and the UN have called for dialog to resolve the issue.
The crisis is expected to dominate the annual high-level UN General Assembly agenda this week. The UN’s secretary general is scheduled to hold talks with representatives from all the sides to the conflict, including with North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho.
