The Singapore Straits Times reports U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to ask ASEAN member nations for their "robust" implementation of international sanctions against North Korea.

The newspaper quotes a spokesman for the State Department's East Asia and Pacific office as saying Washington wants countries to "suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations" with the North and take steps to "isolate the regime financially."

Southeast Asian nations have generally maintained relatively favorable ties with Pyongyang. 

Tillerson is scheduled to meet with foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Washington Thursday. 

The Singapore report says Washington's focus on sanctioning the North has sharpened since the ASEAN meeting was scheduled a month ago.

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