Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se has warned that North Korea will face multilateral and unilateral punitive measures if it pushes ahead with a nuclear test or an intercontinental missile launch.
 
The minister told the parliamentary foreign affairs committee Thursday morning that the government will employ all its diplomatic assets and networks around the world to penalize the North.
 
He also said that the South will raise the issue of human rights violations by the North Korean regime as part of its comprehensive approach to the North Korean nuclear problem and continue efforts to make Pyongyang isolated on the international stage. 
 
Yun added that in particular, the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam will be actively used as an occasion to highlight the regime’s cruelty.
 
The minister said that South Korea and the U.S. are exchanging related information nearly in real time, based on the complete agreement that the nuclear threat from North Korea is grave and urgent.
 
He added that the government is fully prepared for possible high-intensity strategic provocations the North could conduct in April, noting the current state of the regime’s nuclear test site and its behavioral patterns in the past.
 
Speculations are rising that Pyongyang could carry out a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile launch on Saturday, the 105th birthday of its late founder Kim Il-sung, or on April 25th, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its People’s Armed Forces.
 
Regarding Beijing’s role in pressuring North Korea, Yun quoted Chinese top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei as saying that the U.S. and Chinese presidents held deep and comprehensive discussions on the North Korean nuclear problem in their summit last week. During his visit to South Korea early this week, Wu stressed that China agrees to place strong sanctions on the North as punishment for additional provocations.
 
The foreign minister predicted that the U.S. Congress will soon formally adopt a new bill sanctioning North Korea, which will significantly help cut off the North’s sources of finance by blocking the supply of crude oil to North Korea and banning the employment of North Korean workers by foreign countries. 

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