June 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The governments of South Korea and Washington have agreed to strengthen their joint efforts to prevent funds from flowing into the weapons development programs of the North Korean authorities.
South Korean special envoy for security on the Korean peninsula, Kim Gunn, who has met his US counterpart Sung Kim in Washington, has stressed the importance of making North Korea realize that its provocations will have consequences, as reported by the Yonhap news agency.
“We have agreed to strengthen our efforts to more definitively cut off funding for North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs,” Kim explained after the meeting with the US side.
That is why the South Korean diplomat has highlighted that Seoul has imposed unilateral sanctions on entities and individuals on eight different accounts in less than a year.
This meeting took place just days after Pyongyang’s failed attempt to launch what it claimed was a military reconnaissance satellite, which fell into the Yellow Sea due to technical problems.
“In the current situation, when North Korea has announced plans for an additional launch of the so-called satellite, we review and coordinate our countries’ countermeasures against possible provocations,” he said.
For his part, Sung, who has echoed his counterpart’s comments, has said that the US Administration has been very “clear” in showing its willingness to dialogue with the North Korean side “without preconditions.”
