US, S Korea and Japan in chorus over N Korea

President Barack Obama said they were working to ramp up pressure following worrying provocations. Leaders of the three countries urged the world community to vigilantly enforce new UN sanctions. 

Obama didn’t disclose what further steps the countries might take as he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit. But he said the countries had directed their teams to work together to help bring about a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. 

“We are united in our efforts to deter and defend against North Korean provocations,” Obama said. “We recognize that our security is linked.”  

Park, whose country has been repeatedly threatened by Pyongyang, warned that North Korea would face even stiffer sanctions and more isolation if it engaged in any further provocative acts. She said the mere fact the three leaders were huddling to discuss North Korea carried “huge significance.” 

Meanwhile, North Korea state media has labelled the summit a “nonsensical” effort to find fault with the North’s “legitimate access to nuclear weapons”. In further proof of strained relations, South Korean officials said North Korea fired another short-range missile off its east coast on Friday, It accused North Korea of using radio waves to jam GPS signals in South Korea, affecting scores of planes and vessels.