Seoul, Tokyo to discuss sanctions on N. Korea

The top envoys of Korean and Japan were set to meet Thursday to discuss how to handle North Korea’s growing nuclear threat, including possible sanctions to punish the Stalinist state for its missile development.

The talks in Seoul between Lim Sung-nam, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs and Shinsuke Sugiyama, head of Tokyo’s Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, aimed to “to comprehensively discuss policy issues with regard to the Korean Peninsula, including possible U.N. sanctions against North Korea,” officials here said.

The talks, which wrap up Friday, come amid heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear program following its Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch, which showed progression in the Kim Jong-un regime’s efforts to attain intercontinental ballistic missile capability.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are seeking to punish Pyongyang for the launch at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). But China, the North’s main ally, is reluctant to impose new sanctions on its isolated neighbor may be holding up the process.

Seoul has indicated that it may take additional multilateral actions with its allies such as freezing North Korean assets in financial institutions abroad to make Pyongyang feel a deeper pinch for its actions.

U.S. nuclear envoy Glyn Davies will visit later this month to further the trilateral dialogue, officials here said. The United States has been pushing for closer coordination between Seoul and Tokyo, an effort that has sometimes been hampered by historical disputes between the Asian neighbors.

U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell indicated Wednesday in Seoul that “intense deliberations” at the UNSC could wrap up soon, saying he anticipated a “formal step in the immediate future.”

New Japanese Prime Minister has talked tough on the North, saying he will take measures to pressure Pyongyang for its recalcitrance. He also vowed to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the North “at any cost.”

Concerns are high over a possible nuclear test after satellite imagery showed preparations for the move made at the North’s nuclear test site.

Analysts say the North could time the nuclear test in a bid to embarrass the outgoing Lee Myung-bak administration. President-elect Park Geun-hye says Pyongyang’s nuclear development is unacceptable, but has pledged to try to mend cross-border ties.

Analysts say a third test runs the risk of Pyongyang successfully achieving a significant yield, confirming that it has mastered some aspects of nuclear weapons technology. The North, which dropped out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, wants to be seen as a nuclear state.

China has come under pressure for shielding its neighbor at the UNSC, with U.S. President calling Beijing out for “willful blindness” after such a response following the North’s 2010 sinking of the warship Cheonan.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are part of the stalled six-party talks on the North’s denuclearization, which also include Beijing and Moscow. Pyongyang scuttled efforts to revive the forum last year with its failed rocket launch in April, which broke a food-for-nuclear freeze deal with the United States. <The Korea Times/Kim Young-jin>