S. Korea's U.N. ambassador calls for stringent implementation of sanctions on N. Korea

NEW YORK, June 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean U.N. Ambassador Oh Joon called Thursday for stringent implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, saying making its nuclear weapons development more difficult and costly is the only way to force it to reconsider its ambitions.

Oh made the appeal during a discussion that the U.N. missions of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan hosted to check on progress in carrying out the latest Security Council sanctions imposed on the North for its fourth nuclear test in January.

The envoy said that through the past four nuclear tests, the North demonstrated it has no sincere intention to negotiate away its nuclear program, and the only remaining option left for the rest of the world is to get the North to rethink its nuclear policy by making it more difficult and costly for the regime to develop nuclear weapons.

Effective implementation of sanctions is the only way to get the North back to the negotiating table, he said.

The latest sanctions are considered the toughest ever to be imposed on Pyongyang as they require mandatory inspection of all cargo going in and out of the North by land, sea or air, while banning its exports of coal, iron and other mineral resources, a key source of hard currency.

It also prohibits all small arms and other conventional weapons from being sold to the North, bans jet and rocket fuel supplies to the country, grounds North Korean flights suspected of carrying contraband and denies vessels carrying illicit items access to ports.

U.S. Amb. Samantha Power emphasized the importance of the "catch-all" provision in the sanctions resolution, which calls for banning the transfer of any item that could directly contribute to the operational capabilities of the North's armed forces or the transfer by the North of any item that directly contributes to operational capabilities of the armed forces of other countries.

Japan's ambassador, Koro Bessho, said the North's nuclear program has become a threat not only to the region, but to the world, emphasizing that cooperation not only from a handful of big countries, but also all U.N. member states is key to curbing the program.
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