US Secretary of State John Kerry discusses North Korean nuclear threat with China
The North will likely be referred to the International Criminal Court because of human rights violations.
The United States and China are discussing further sanctions on North Korea as it has “not even come close” to taking steps to rein in its nuclear weapons programme, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday.
Speaking in the South Korean capital, Kerry said Washington had offered the isolated North the chance for an improved relationship in return for signs of a genuine willingness to end its nuclear programme.
“To date, to this moment, particularly with recent provocations, it is clear the DPRK is not even close to meeting that standard,” Kerry told a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. “Instead it continues to pursue nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.”
DPRK are the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea is already under heavy UN, EU and US sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.
“With respect to the methodology for boosting sanctions and other things, we [the United States and China] are discussing all of that now. China has obviously an extraordinary leverage.
“We will have security and economic dialogue with the Chinese in Washington in June and that will be the moment where we will table some of these specific steps.”
Pyongyang walked away from a 2005 deal with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States to end its nuclear programme in return for diplomatic and economic rewards.