S. Korea, U.S. agree to seek further sanctions on DPRK over nuke test

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States agreed on Tuesday to seek the strongest possible sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its recent nuclear test.

Sung Kim, special representative for DPRK Policy of the U.S. Department of State, arrived in Seoul on Monday afternoon after holding talks with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo.

The U.S. official met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, to discuss how to address the DPRK's fifth nuclear test that was conducted on Sept. 9.

Kim said at a joint press conference that the two allies agreed to pursue the strongest possible sanctions and pressure on the DPRK by pressuring Pyongyang in an omni-directional way through UN Security Council measures, unilateral sanctions and international pressure.

Meanwhile, the U.S. official said Washington will make best efforts to take strong actions as rapidly as possible through the United Nations, noting that the U.S., South Korea and Japan will consider additional measures toward the DPRK separately.

He said that if Pyongyang is really ready to talk about denuclearization, it can be discussed through six-party talks, but the U.S. diplomat noted that the DPRK showed no interest in dialogue as it conducted unprecedented provocations.

The six-way talks, which involve DPRK, South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, have been halted since late 2008.

The DPRK announced on Sept. 9 that it had successfully conducted an explosion test of nuclear warhead that can be mounted on ballistic missiles.

Seoul's military estimated the fifth test was the most powerful as it produced an explosive yield of 10 kilotons, stronger than 6 kilotons generated during the fourth nuclear detonation in January. Endit