U.S. preparing more sanctions on North Korea, Sullivan says

By Josh Smith

SEOUL, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The United States is working a
new round of sanctions against North Korea, U.S. National
Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday, as Pyongyang
forges ahead with banned missile development and signals a
possible new nuclear test.

“We have a new set of sanctions measures coming forward as
we speak,” he told a conference in Seoul organised by the
U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and
the South Korean JoongAng media group.

Sullivan, who spoke via live video link, did not elaborate
but said Washington was committed to using pressure and
diplomacy to entice North Korea into giving up its nuclear
arsenal.

The “North Star” of U.S. Joe Biden’s North Korea policy is
the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and it remains
steadfast in pursuing that goal while being flexible in working
with partners on how to achieve it, he said.

He pointed to increased cooperation between the United
States, South Korea, and Japan, which have increased joint
military drills. The United States is also working on a more
“visible” regional presence of its strategic assets, Sullivan
said, referring to major weapons such as aircraft carriers and
long-range bombers.

North Korea has said denuclearisation is off the table, and
accused the United States and its allies of pursing “hostile”
policies, including sanctions, that have left it no choice but
to expand its military.

Sullivan said Washington had no ill intent toward North
Korea and is open to talks without preconditions.

“Pyongyang has rejected this sincere outreach,” he said.

The last round of U.S. sanctions in October targeted two
Singapore-registered companies and a Marshall Islands-registered
firm that Washington said support Pyongyang’s weapons programmes
and its military.

Decades of U.S.-led sanctions have not halted North Korea’s
increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear weapon
programmes, and China and Russia have blocked recent efforts to
impose more United Nations sanctions, saying they should instead
be eased to jumpstart talks and avoid humanitarian harm.

Sullivan said the administration has no illusions about the
challenges, but that the United States remained committed to
holding North Korea accountable.
(Reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle)