Tokyo, Seoul, Washington Agree to Cooperate on N Korea UNSC Sanctions

The leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States agreed on Tuesday to join efforts in a bid to ensure tougher UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea in light of Pyongyang’s long-range rocket launch, media reported.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — According to the Yonhap news agency, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama have reached the agreement through a series of bilateral and trilateral phone calls held earlier on Tuesday.

The sides "agreed to closely cooperate to make sure that the Security Council can adopt a resolution for strong and effective sanctions on North Korea," Park’s press service said, as quoted by the media.

On Sunday, North Korea fired a long-range rocket to allegedly place a satellite into orbit, defying a UN Security Council resolution which bans Pyongyang from launching rockets that could be used as ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads and evoking condemnation from the international community.

Later on Sunday, the UN Security Council held an emergency session and called for a response to Pyongyang's launch. Although North Korea said the launch was for scientific purposes, some states saw it as a front for a ballistic missile test.