US enlists UN to keep sanctions pressure on North Korea
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday urged UN member-states to keep tough economic sanctions fully in place on North Korea and maintain pressure on Kim Jong Un to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
“We need to see Chairman Kim do what he promised the world he would do,” Mr Pompeo told reporters after meeting with the Security Council.
The United States believes that North Korea can shed its “pariah” status from its nuclear and missile programmes, but “it will take full enforcement of sanctions for us to get there,” he said. Mr Pompeo travelled to New York for the one-hour meeting with the council to provide a first briefing to the top UN body on North Korea since Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un’s summit. China and Russia have argued that North Korea should be rewarded with the prospect of eased sanctions for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.
But US Ambassador Nikki Haley made clear that the best way to support US diplomacy on North Korea was “to not loosen the sanctions.”
“We can’t do one thing until we see North Korea respond to their promise to denuclearise,” Ms Haley said.
Mr Pompeo’s talks in New York came a day after Russia and China put a six-month hold on a US request to cut off deliveries of refined oil to North Korea.