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Pompeo urges U.N. to fully enforce sanctions on N. Korea

All News 06:01 July 21, 2018

NEW YORK, July 20 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the United Nations Friday to fully enforce sanctions on North Korea to keep pressure on the regime to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

Pompeo was speaking at the U.N. headquarters after meeting with members of the U.N. Security Council on the latest developments with North Korea since last month's historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

At the summit, Kim committed to the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S.

"The countries of the Security Council are united on the need for final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim," Pompeo told reporters. "Strict enforcement of sanctions is critical to our achieving this goal."

Last year the U.N. Security Council passed a series of resolutions sanctioning the North for its sixth test of a nuclear weapon and multiple tests of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S.

The actions banned exports of North Korean raw commodities and capped the regime's imports of oil in a bid to stop the flow of revenue and resources needed to develop the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

This Reuters file photo shows U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Yonhap)

This Reuters file photo shows U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Yonhap)

"Members of the U.N. Security Council, and by extension all U.N. member-states, have unanimously agreed to fully enforce sanctions on North Korea, and we expect them to continue to honor those commitments," Pompeo said. "When sanctions are not enforced, the prospects for the successful denuclearization are diminished."

The top U.S. diplomat voiced concern about reports that North Korea is smuggling oil products into the country in violation of the sanctions through illegal ship-to-ship transfers. He said there were at least 89 such transfers in the first five months of this year.

"The United States reminds every U.N. member-state of its responsibility to stop illegal ship-to-ship transfers, and we urge them to step up their enforcement efforts as well," he said.

Standing next to Pompeo, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley singled out China and Russia as key players who could do more.

She said the U.S. asked the U.N. sanctions committee to halt additional refined petroleum shipments to North Korea this year, but China and Russia blocked the move.

"Now for China and Russia to block it, what are they telling us? Are they telling us that they want to continue supplying this oil?" Haley said. "They claim they need more information. We don't need any more information. The sanctions committee has what it needs. We all know it's going forward. We put pressure today on China and Russia to abide and be good helpers through this situation and to help us continue with denuclearization."

Pompeo still held out hope.

"President Trump remains upbeat about the prospects of denuclearization of North Korea. So do I, as progress is happening," he said. "It is the Trump administration's hope that one day the DPRK could be in our midst here at the United Nations -- not as a pariah, but as a friend."

DPRK is an acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The path ahead is not easy; it will take time," Pompeo added. "But our hopes for a safer world for all of us and a brighter future for North Korea remains our objective, and that hope endures."

hague@yna.co.kr
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