United States and China made progress toward a draft UN sanctions resolution to punish North Korea for its recent nuclear tests and push it to the negotiating table. After talks in Washington yesterday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry said the draft is still being evaluated by officials before being submitted to the UN Security Council.
But both powers vowed that they would not accept a nuclear armed North Korea and expressed confidence the resolution would be strong enough to force Kim Jong-Un’s isolated regime to reconsider its strategy. Nevertheless, Wang said his talks with Kerry had made progress in agreeing on a draft sanctions resolution to be presented to the full UN Security Council.
Kerry also said that a denuclearised North Korea could one day enter talks with Washington to negotiate a formal peace deal to officially end the hostilities that began with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950.