US, South Korea and Japan warn North Korea to invoke sanctions for launching missiles

Maintaining their stand on compliance with the UN Security Council over the issue of North Korea's back to back missile launches, the trio - the United States, South Korea, and Japan - set to impose sanctions on Pyongyang if it fails to review its policies, reported news agency Sputnik. According to the media reports, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman during a press conference in Washington said that the trio agreed to impose sanctions on North Korea for launching missiles.

"There is no question that Japan, South Korea and the United States all agree that we need to stay compliant with UN Security Council resolutions that impose sanctions on North Korea for launching missiles that it should not," the US diplomat said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Further, the US diplomat added the trio would do nothing except impose sanctions on Pyongyang. It stressed that the North Korean Supreme Leader has to change the policies regarding the nuclearisation of its weapon and asked to adhere to the UN Security Council measures. Notably, the statement from the US diplomat came after holding a trilateral meeting with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-Kun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo.

The officials explained their countries' commitment to maintaining a free, peaceful, and open Indo-Pacific and emphasised their backing for the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the regional architecture, Sherman added. She pointed that diplomacy and dialogue are crucial to delivering the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing durable peace. 

Japan, South Korea hesitate at sharing stage after US talks

During the briefing, Sherman noted that Tokyo and Seoul continue to work on resolving "bilateral differences," which led to their no-show at the joint presser following the meeting that lasted for over three hours. However, in a report published in the Associated Press, American diplomats couldn’t convince their Asian allies to share a news conference stage. It said Sherman sat at a table alone, taking a question from reporters from those countries. While explaining the differences, she said "some bilateral differences between those two Asian allies of the US "that are continuing to be resolved, unrelated to today's meeting."

IMAGE: AP/ANI