Tillerson calls on global community: ‘Nuclear-armed’ N. Korea not acceptable

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on partners to maximize pressure on North Korea and combat the regime’s attempts to evade international sanctions.Interested in North Korea?Add North Korea as an interest to stay up to date on the latest North Korea news, video, and analysis from ABC News.North Korea Add InterestSitting beside his counterparts from Canada, Japan and South Korea, Tillerson told top diplomats assembled in Vancouver, Canada, for a global summit on North Korea that they are sending a “unified message” to Kim Jong Un’s regime: “We will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.”Top dignitaries set to convene, with a focus on North KoreaHe urged nations to fully enforce the three United Nations Security Council resolutions from last year that increased sanctions on North Korea, specifically calling on Russia and China to comply.The two nations were not invited to the summit, known as the Vancouver Group, because they were not part of the original U.N. Command Sending States — the countries that provided troops and supplies to U.N. forces to defend South Korea in the Korean War. Allies like South Korea, Japan, Sweden and India were invited to the summit.”We cannot abide lapses or sanctions evasions,” Tillerson said. “We will continue to call attention to, and designate, entities and individuals complicit in such evasive actions.”Tillerson also called for the improvement of maritime interdiction operations to “put an end to illicit ship-to-ship transfers that undermine U.N. sanctions,” as well as “new consequences” to be imposed on the regime “whenever new aggression occurs.”North Korea launched 15 ballistic missile tests and conducted one nuclear test in 2017, but has yet to conduct a test in 2018.

 

Source: Tillerson calls on global community: ‘Nuclear-armed’ N. Korea not acceptable – ABC News