The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on Wednesday vowed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution entailing “new, meaningful sanctions” against North Korea, calling Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test a “clear, flagrant violation” of its international obligations.

Seoul’s nuclear negotiator Hwang Joon-Kook and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts -- Sung Kim and Kimihiro Ishikane -- held a trilateral meeting in a Seoul hotel to coordinate their response to Pyongyang’s self-proclaimed hydrogen bomb test last week.

Following the talks, Kim said that the three nations agreed that they could not just take a “business-as-usual” approach to the North’s latest provocation. He also expressed hopes that Chinese authorities would share the need to take tougher sanctions against its recalcitrant ally.

“Chinese authorities would agree with us that we simply cannot take a business-as-usual approach to this latest provocation. We will be working very closely with them to come up with a meaningful resolution,” he told reporters.

“I think Chinese will agree with us that the only way we can send a clear message to Pyongyang is to adopt a strong international measure, and hopefully the negotiations will go smoothly.”

Hwang noted that the three nations agreed to focus on diplomacy to enable the UNSC to take “strong and comprehensive” sanctions against Pyongyang, and that they would continue close cooperation with China and Russia as well.

Their talks came before the three nations are to hold vice-ministerial-level talks in Tokyo on Saturday. Seoul’s Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, Washington’s Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Tokyo’s Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saik are to attend the meeting.

The three nations are also expected to discuss ways to secure China’s cooperation in holding the North responsible for the nuclear provocation.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)