The United States says it plans to fully enforce U.N. sanctions on North Korea in order to put added pressure directly on the regime of the communist country.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters Wednesday that efforts are under way to aggressively implement the new U.N. Security Council resolution sanctioning Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.
Crowley said U.S. sanctions activity will be geared primarily at addressing concerns about the North’s potential proliferation activity.
He said the U.S. will be targeting entities that are a part of the North’s military complex, adding that Washington is looking for sanctions that can put pressure on the North’s communist regime itself.
Crowley reaffirmed that U.S. policy on North Korea centers on fully denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
On two detained U.S. journalists in the North, Crowley said the U.S. continues to ask for consular access to the two through Washington’s protecting power, Sweden. There has been no such access since June first.