By Yi Whan-woo
The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Singapore, Tuesday, to discuss possible countermeasures in the wake of North Korea's test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week.
Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for the Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun and Japan's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Kenji Kanasugi on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue that began on Tuesday.
The dialogue will run through Wednesday. It is an informal security meeting involving officials and civilian experts from the members of the dormant six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.
Kim, Yun and Kanasugi shared their thoughts on how they can shape the joint promise made among the leaders of the three countries in Germany during the G20 summit last week to press North Korea harder, according to the diplomatic sources.
The three envoys agreed to step up efforts for the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to adopt stronger sanctions against Pyongyang.
The possible measures to be included on the new UNSC sanctions are cutting the crude oil supply to North Korea and reigning in its regime from sending its state-sponsored slave workers abroad to earn cash for its nuclear weapons program.
Sources said Kim, Yun and Kanasugi may have agreed to convince China and Russia to join the envisioned UNSC sanctions after the council failed to adopt a statement denouncing North Korea's ICBM test.
They also may have discussed using a secondary boycott on firms from China and other countries conducting internationally-banned business with North Korea.
The three envoys last met in April in Tokyo.
The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Singapore, Tuesday, to discuss possible countermeasures in the wake of North Korea's test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week.
Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for the Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun and Japan's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Kenji Kanasugi on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue that began on Tuesday.
The dialogue will run through Wednesday. It is an informal security meeting involving officials and civilian experts from the members of the dormant six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.
Kim, Yun and Kanasugi shared their thoughts on how they can shape the joint promise made among the leaders of the three countries in Germany during the G20 summit last week to press North Korea harder, according to the diplomatic sources.
The three envoys agreed to step up efforts for the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to adopt stronger sanctions against Pyongyang.
The possible measures to be included on the new UNSC sanctions are cutting the crude oil supply to North Korea and reigning in its regime from sending its state-sponsored slave workers abroad to earn cash for its nuclear weapons program.
Sources said Kim, Yun and Kanasugi may have agreed to convince China and Russia to join the envisioned UNSC sanctions after the council failed to adopt a statement denouncing North Korea's ICBM test.
They also may have discussed using a secondary boycott on firms from China and other countries conducting internationally-banned business with North Korea.
The three envoys last met in April in Tokyo.
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