US to work with UN on North Korea sanctions

Obama said the US will also increase efforts to stop North Korea gaining access to international currency and technology by tightening loopholes in the current sanctions regime.

He said the recent ballistic missile launches were "provocations" that flouted international law and "would only lead to further isolation."

"We are going to work diligently together with the most recent UN sanctions," Obama told reporters after meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. "We're going to work together to make sure we're closing loopholes and make them even more effective."

However Washington has said it is still open to dialogue: "If it is willing to recognize its international obligations and enforce the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the opportunities for us to dialogue with them are there," Obama said. "We do not have any interest in an offensive approach to North Korea."

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday. They traveled about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and landed in the sea 200 to 250 km (120 to 160 miles) west of Hokkaido, Japan's northern-most main island.

It was widely viewed as a show of force timed to get media attention as world leaders visited the region for a series of summits. Obama and other heads of state gathered in China over the weekend for the Group of 20 economic summit. Obama went on to the Laos capital for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN.)

"We have over many years seen North Korea try to find ways to evade sanctions, try to find ways to access foreign currency, try to find ways to access sensitive technologies using front-companies for their activities," the US's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.

North Korea has repeatedly flouted Security Council resolutions demanding an end to its nuclear and ballistic missile activities and has continued to launch missiles, escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the region.

Sanctions since 2006

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006. The 15-member Security Council toughened its sanctions in March in response to North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket in February.

North Korea is banned from importing or exporting nuclear or missile items and technology as well as luxury goods.

The March resolution expanded the list of banned items, requiring countries to freeze the assets of companies linked to the North's nuclear and missile programs. They also required mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air and a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang. Diplomats from the North who engaged in "illicit activities" were to be expelled.

UN condemns launches

The UN Security Council on Tuesday also condemned the launches and threatened "further significant measures" if it refuses to stop its nuclear and missile tests. It gave no indication of what "further significant measures" it might take.

Japan's UN Ambassador Koro Bessho said he was encouraged that in Tuesday's council meeting "there was much stronger show of unity" than in past discussions. The tests not only threaten Japan's national security but the region and beyond, he said. He stressed that the missiles were launched without any prior notification and could have hit planes or ships.

South Korea's deputy UN ambassador Hahn Choong Hee said the international community should be united in sending a "clear and unequivocal message to North Korea that if they continue to provoke and violate their international commitments and sanctions, they will face much stronger and insurmountable and significant counter-measures from the international community."

China's UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi, reportedly annoyed that the latest missiles were fired during the G20 summit, told reporters as he left the meeting that the council would work on a press statement. But he did not mention any further council action.

jbh/jm (AP, Reuters)