SEOUL: US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart have pledged “stronger pressure” on Pyongyang, Seoul said Sunday, after North Korea defied tough new sanctions with a missile test and said it wanted to match American nuclear strength.
The international community is scrambling to contain an increasingly belligerent North Korea, which in recent weeks has prompted global alarm by conducting its sixth and largest nuclear test and firing long-range missiles over Japan that it says could reach the US mainland.
In a phone conversation Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-In and Trump “gravely condemned” the latest missile test on Friday, which came just days after United Nations Security Council announced a raft of new sanctions against Pyongyang.
“The two leaders agreed on more practical and stronger pressure... to make the North Korean regime realize that further provocation will only bring stronger diplomatic isolation and economic pressure leading to a path of collapse,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement.
Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from “hostile” US forces and is determined to build a weapons system capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to hit the US mainland.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who oversaw the latest missile test, has said the launch increased the “combat power of the nuclear force,” according to the North’s official KCNA news agency.
He said the launch was part of the country’s plan to achieve “equilibrium of real force” with the US.
Experts believe Pyongyang’s weapons program has made rapid progress under leader Kim Jong-Un, with previous sanctions having done little to deter it.
The UN Security Council, which has condemned Friday’s launch as “highly provocative,” will hold a new ministerial-level meeting Thursday on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, focused on enforcing sanctions on Kim’s regime, diplomats said.
The meeting will be held during the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders at the UN where Trump will meet with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on the sidelines to address the crisis.
Moon, Trump vow stronger pressure against North Korea
Moon, Trump vow stronger pressure against North Korea
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
