US, Japan, RoK ministers discuss tougher measures against DPRK
Foreign ministers for the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) met in New York on September 18, ahead of UN meetings, to discuss stepped-up measures against the DPRK and expand collaboration with one another after Pyongyang's fifth and largest nuclear test.
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The Sept. 9 blast was in defiance of UN sanctions that were tightened in March.
The meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and their RoK counterpart, Yun Byung-se, was the first since the latest nuclear test. It will be one of the main issues discussed by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
In a joint statement, the ministers said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s disregard for multiple UN resolutions prohibiting its missile and nuclear programs called for even stronger international pressure.
The DPRK has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under leader Kim Jong Un.
"They discussed the important work currently taking place in the Security Council to further sanction the DPRK and considered other possible measures of their own, in particular ways to further restrict revenue sources for the DPRK's missile and nuclear programs, including through illicit activities," the ministers' statement said.
"They reaffirmed that they remain open to credible and authentic talks aimed at full and verifiable denuclearization of the DPRK," the statement said, referring to the country's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
