Anchor: As the two Koreas draw nearer ahead of next month's Olympics, top diplomats from 20 nations, including South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, met in Vancouver and reaffirmed their commitment to continued sanctions and pressure on North Korea. 
Alannah Hill has this report.

Report: Foreign ministers from 20 countries gathered in Vancouver on Tuesday to discuss diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis and expressed support for the ongoing inter-Korean talks. 

They also adopted a statement after the conference agreeing to consider unilateral sanctions and diplomatic actions that go beyond existing UN Security Council resolutions. 

In the meeting jointly hosted by the U.S. and Canada, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that Seoul will make the most of the new opening in inter-Korean dialogue, but it is well aware that sustained improvements in inter-Korean relations cannot take place without efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that North Korea will continue to face sanctions until it takes "decisive steps" to abandon its nuclear weapons program. 

[Sound bite: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson]
"Let me be clear, we will not allow North Korea to drive a wedge through our resolve or our solidarity. We reject a freeze for freeze approach, in which legitimate defense and military exercises are placed on the same level of equivalency as the DPRK's unlawful actions." 

The freeze for freeze proposal, backed by China and Russia, calls for suspending U.S.-South Korea military drills in exchange for North Korea's halting of its weapons testing.

Tillerson declined to comment on whether the U.S. would consider a limited military strike against North Korea during a news conference after the summit, but said the North's threats are growing. 

[Sound bite: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson]
"So I have no comment on the - quote - ' bloody nose' as you as you named. With respect as to whether Americans should be concerned about a war with North Korea, I think we need to be very sober and clear-eyed about the current situation." 

The joint statement also called for China and Russia to play a bigger role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, but Beijing criticized the meeting, which brought together countries that fought alongside South Korea during the Korean War, as lacking legitimacy. 
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News.

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