United Nations diplomat: UN working for tougher sanctions on North Korea

Kim, the United States’ special representative for North Korea policy, made the remarks in Seoul on Wednesday after talks with Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s special envoy for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and Kimihiro Ishikane, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

Although the U.S. State Department has refused to confirm Kim’s detention in Pyongyang, Kim told CNN that when he was arrested, authorities seized his USB drive and documents detailing North Korea’s nuclear program.

There was no immediate reaction from North Korea’s state media to the B-52 fly-over, which also happened after North Korea’s third nuclear test in 2013. But China is still seen as reluctant to clamp down on the North in part because of fears that a toppled government in Pyongyang would see millions of desperate North Koreans flooding across the border with China and a U.S.-backed South Korean government in control of the Korean Peninsula.

China is the North’s main ally and trade partner.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private, said the North’s claim that it tested a hydrogen bomb represents “a step change” and the council needs to show that its response also represents “a step change”, even if the claim proves to be untrue, which is likely.

The measure passed by the U.S. House Tuesday would call for the president to sanction individuals and entities engaging in transactions with Pyongyang related to weapons of mass destruction, luxury goods, and illicit activities.

“In 1994, President Bill Clinton sent former President Jimmy Carter to defuse an impending war with North Korea over that country’s nuclear program, but Carter believed sanctions would undermine the agreement he had worked out”, Waters recalled.

This is not the first time that the regime has imprisoned a foreign pastor and had him confess to crimes against the state.

Park said Wednesday that South Korea will continue its loudspeaker campaign, calling it “the surest and most effective psychological warfare tool”.

“China has repeatedly pledged to stamp out North Korea’s nuclear weapons”, she said.

The 28,500 United States troops in South Korea have been put on high alert as a noisy propaganda battle is played out across the heavily fortified border with the North.

“In order to respond to the potential attacks from North Korea or other terrorist organisations, the legislation of the terrorism prevention law is absolutely necessary”, she said.

Without Chinese demand, North Korea’s mining industry could also suffer, leading to the collapse of a major sector supporting the country’s economy.

North Koreans dance to celebrate what the country claims was a “successful hydrogen bomb” test at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo January 8, 2016.