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Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan vowed Tuesday to closely cooperate in carrying out the latest sanctions imposed on DPRKfollowing its September nuclear test.
In their trilateral talks in Seoul, they also pledged to try to verify whether the punitive measures are faithfully implemented as part of efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development.
The meeting was attended by Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, respectively.
"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed to maintain an around-the-clock information sharing system ... in order to carry out the cap on the North's coal exports under the UNSC Resolution 2321 and other diverse money-blocking measures and also verify their implementation," Kim told reporters after the meeting that lasted around two hours.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council adopted a new set of sanctions under Resolution 2321 aimed at punishing the North for carrying out its fifth and latest nuclear test on Sept. 9.
The main focus was placed on choking off money flow into Pyongyang that could be exploited to continue its nuclear and missile programs including restrictions on coal exports. Seoul, Washington and Tokyo followed up by announcing their own unilateral sanctions.
However, given that most of the North's coal exports are bound for China, its closest ally, calls have been growing that countries should intensify their monitoring to see if such measures are faithfully implemented.
"We shared the view that it is more important than ever to keep close cooperation among the three countries," Kim said. "We also agreed to fully prepare for all possibilities including the North's additional provocations."
Kim reaffirmed that the door remains open for talks with DPRKbut noted that a major precondition is its sincere efforts toward denuclearization.
He strongly warned the North that it will be on a path of "self-destruction" unless it gives up its nuclear weapons, saying that denuclearization is the one and only choice it has.
The U.S. negotiator echoed his view.
"Sanctions are a tool, not an end in themselves. We have long made clear that we remain willing to engage in credible and serious denuclearization talks," he said. "Unfortunately the DPRK's response with an escalation pattern of ballistic launches and nuclear tests and inflammatory rhetoric underscores that it is not ready."
"Our goal is peaceful denuclearization and I want to emphasize both words: peaceful and denuclearization. What that means is we do have to engage.. in a credible and serious dialogue. So far... we have not seen signs of DPRKaccepting the premise of the dialogue. We hope it happens. We hope it happens soon," he said.
Yun reassured the U.S. commitment to its allies and emphasized the importance of the three nation's joint efforts in coping with the threat from the North.
"The U.S. commitment to our allies remain ironclad and in discussion like today, we ensured our trilateral efforts will remain the cornerstone of the international response to counter the DPRK threat," he said.
(YONHAP)
