US State Department Urges International Community to Enforce Sanctions on North Korea

North Korea's Ballistic Missile Launch and Nuclear Activities Violate UN Security Council Resolutions
Reiterates Willingness for Dialogue... US, South Korea, Japan Indicate Bilateral and Trilateral Consultations at UN General Assembly

[Asia Economy International Desk Reporter] On the 20th (local time), the U.S. Department of State urged the international community to enforce sanctions against North Korea while reiterating its willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea.

Erika Barks-Ruggles, a senior official in charge of international organizations at the State Department, responded this way to questions about recent reports on North Korea's ballistic missile launches and nuclear activities during a press briefing held ahead of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

She confirmed that North Korea's ballistic missile launches violate UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to neighboring countries, the international community, and regional allies, reaffirming the U.S. defense commitment to South Korea and Japan. She added, "We are fully committed to a diplomatic approach toward North Korea," and said, "We have urged North Korea to engage in dialogue and will continue to do so."

She also stated, "Our (North Korea) sanctions and UN sanctions are being enforced," and "We continue to implement them and urge other countries to enforce them strongly." She further said, "We have repeatedly said we are ready to meet with North Korea without preconditions," adding, "We hope they respond positively, but unfortunately, they have not done so to date."

Regarding whether meetings with South Korea and Japan will take place during the UN General Assembly, she said, "We are very much looking forward to this meeting to discuss all regional security issues, including North Korea. We expect to have excellent discussions with the two countries, and also among the three countries," suggesting that bilateral and trilateral consultations among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan could occur at the State Department level during the UN General Assembly.

When asked about the possibility of returning to the Six-Party Talks, a past consultative body for discussing the North Korean nuclear issue, she said, "There is nothing to announce about the Six-Party Talks at this time."

Regarding the possibility of contact with China during the UN General Assembly, Barks-Ruggles said that China is mostly expected to participate virtually and that they will see each other at a series of multilateral meetings, but at this point, there are no plans for bilateral meetings scheduled virtually.

However, she left room for the possibility that meetings might unexpectedly take place later, but said that at this point, the U.S. Secretary of State's Chinese counterpart will not attend the UN General Assembly offline.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.