AFP, Washington :
The United States on Thursday called on China and Russia to take “direct actions” to rein in North Korea after it fired a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific.
“China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labor,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
“China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.”
The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the country over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programs.
Tillerson called those fresh punitive measures “the floor, not the ceiling, of the actions we should take. We call on all nations to take new measures against the Kim regime.”
“These continued provocations only deepen North Korea’s diplomatic and economic isolation.”
US President Donald Trump has yet to comment on the launch but according to the White House has been briefed.
The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door emergency meeting Friday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the request of the United States and Japan.
Tillerson’s call for action came hours after the US military’s regional command confirmed North Korea had fired the intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, noting it had not posed a threat to North America.
It is the second time in less than a month that North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan.
Seoul’s defense ministry said the latest missile probably traveled around 3,700 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 770 kilometers- further and higher than the Hwasong-12 IRBM launched at the end of August.
That launch was followed by a nuclear test on September 3, its largest to date, which Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.
The UN Security Council unanimously imposed on Monday an eighth set of sanctions on North Korea after its latest nuclear test, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting oil imports.
Washington had called for tougher restrictions, including an oil embargo, in response to Pyongyang’s sixth and most powerful nuclear blast.
But the US softened its stance in order to secure the backing of China and Russia, which could have vetoed the proposal.
“It’s clear with respect to oil and a complete embargo from the Security Council, that’s going to be very difficult,” Tillerson said, standing alongside his UK counterpart Boris Johnson.
The US secretary of state said it would be up to China alone to decide “to use the very powerful tool of oil supply to pressure North Korea” into reconsidering its approach to dialogue.
Johnson said sanctions were a way of “maximising the pressure on North Korea to reach a diplomatic solution”, calling for the “complete and irreversible” denuclearisation of the Korean peninsular.
While North Korea was top of the agenda during Tillerson’s visit to London, he also touched upon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“The prime minister underlying its importance in preventing Iran from procuring nuclear weapons,” May’s spokesman said.
“Full implementation of JCPOA (the Iran deal) would positively contribute to regional and international peace and stability,” Tillerson said.
But he cautioned that Iran was “clearly in default of the expectations” in Washington of the 2015 accord.
The US on Thursday took action against 11 individuals and companies accused of supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or engaging in cyber attacks against US banks, imposing economic sanctions.
Tillerson and Johnson also discussed the response to Hurricane Irma, which raged through the Caribbean last week and also struck the US, and the situation in Libya.
The United States on Thursday called on China and Russia to take “direct actions” to rein in North Korea after it fired a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific.
“China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labor,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
“China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.”
The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the country over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programs.
Tillerson called those fresh punitive measures “the floor, not the ceiling, of the actions we should take. We call on all nations to take new measures against the Kim regime.”
“These continued provocations only deepen North Korea’s diplomatic and economic isolation.”
US President Donald Trump has yet to comment on the launch but according to the White House has been briefed.
The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door emergency meeting Friday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the request of the United States and Japan.
Tillerson’s call for action came hours after the US military’s regional command confirmed North Korea had fired the intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, noting it had not posed a threat to North America.
It is the second time in less than a month that North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan.
Seoul’s defense ministry said the latest missile probably traveled around 3,700 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 770 kilometers- further and higher than the Hwasong-12 IRBM launched at the end of August.
That launch was followed by a nuclear test on September 3, its largest to date, which Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.
The UN Security Council unanimously imposed on Monday an eighth set of sanctions on North Korea after its latest nuclear test, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting oil imports.
Washington had called for tougher restrictions, including an oil embargo, in response to Pyongyang’s sixth and most powerful nuclear blast.
But the US softened its stance in order to secure the backing of China and Russia, which could have vetoed the proposal.
“It’s clear with respect to oil and a complete embargo from the Security Council, that’s going to be very difficult,” Tillerson said, standing alongside his UK counterpart Boris Johnson.
The US secretary of state said it would be up to China alone to decide “to use the very powerful tool of oil supply to pressure North Korea” into reconsidering its approach to dialogue.
Johnson said sanctions were a way of “maximising the pressure on North Korea to reach a diplomatic solution”, calling for the “complete and irreversible” denuclearisation of the Korean peninsular.
While North Korea was top of the agenda during Tillerson’s visit to London, he also touched upon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“The prime minister underlying its importance in preventing Iran from procuring nuclear weapons,” May’s spokesman said.
“Full implementation of JCPOA (the Iran deal) would positively contribute to regional and international peace and stability,” Tillerson said.
But he cautioned that Iran was “clearly in default of the expectations” in Washington of the 2015 accord.
The US on Thursday took action against 11 individuals and companies accused of supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or engaging in cyber attacks against US banks, imposing economic sanctions.
Tillerson and Johnson also discussed the response to Hurricane Irma, which raged through the Caribbean last week and also struck the US, and the situation in Libya.
