WASHINGTON: The United States, Japan and South Korea committed Thursday to work more closely to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, US President Barack Obama said Thursday after meeting with their leaders.
"We are united in our efforts to deter and defend against North Korean provocations," Obama said with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at his side.
"We have to work together to meet this challenge and we also recognize that it is important to the entire international community to vigilantly enforce the strong UN Security Council measures."
The tougher Security Council sanctions were imposed March 2 in the wake of a fourth North Korean nuclear test in January and a series of ballistic missile tests that have sent tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula.
Obama is hosting a summit on nuclear security in Washington prompted in part by the confrontation with Pyongyang.
He will also be meeting separately with President Xi Jinping of China, North Korea's closest ally and seen as the key to making sanctions work.
"The additional sanctions recently imposed on Pyongyang by the United Nations Security Council show that violations have consequences," Obama wrote in an article published on the eve of the summit.
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