US House votes to up N. Korea sanctions

Especially related to loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea, she said, “It is the most intensive and effective measure of psychological warfare against North Korea”.

“[Kim] called for bolstering up both in quality and quantity the nuclear force capable of making nuclear strikes at the U.S.-led imperialists any time and in any space… if they encroach upon the sovereignty of the DPRK and make threatening provocations”, North Korea’s official news agency KCNA reportedly said.

The “unidentified flying object” returned to the northern side of the border following the warning shots.

Since Friday, South Korea has been blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda and K-pop songs from huge speakers along the border.

North Korean propaganda pamphlets also were found in northern parts of Seoul and towns close to the DMZ, apparently carried across by big plastic balloons – mirroring a practice of South Korean activists who send anti-Kim leaflets northward.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (L) shows the way to US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy (R) prior to their talks at the foreign ministry in Tokyo on January 6, 2016 following North Korea’s nuclear test.

 South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Hwang Joon-kook is scheduled to fly to Beijing on Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei, and to Moscow next Tuesday for talks with Russia’s envoy for Korean nuclear disarmament Igor Morgulov.

It may take weeks or longer to confirm or refute the North’s claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, which would mark a major and unanticipated advance for its still-limited nuclear arsenal.

“[The bill] uses targeted financial pressure to isolate [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un and his top officials from the assets they maintain in foreign banks, and from the hard currency that sustains their rule”, said Republican Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and an author of the measure. China, North Korea’s sole ally, and Russian Federation have so far called for restraint and dialogue.

During the question-and-answer session with the press, Park said the UN Security Council is now preparing a new resolution to punish the North, and Seoul is closely consulting with Washington and Beijing on the draft.

Kim was engaged in illicit trade across the China border when she was in North Korea.

 Tensions along the heavily-fortified border between North and South Korea rose further on Wednesday.

“I trust China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, will play a necessary role”, she told a televised news conference.

She also said China should realize it can not keep North Korea from conducting “a fifth or sixth nuclear test” until China’s commitment translates into action.

“China’s basic stance is that the North Korean nuclear problem should be resolved through negotiations”, Cheong Seong Chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said by text message.

“International communities should treat this issue differently than before”, she said, calling for the strongest sanctions against North Korea.