[THE INVESTOR] The top South Korean, US and Japanese diplomats held a series of bilateral and trilateral meetings in New York on Sunday and called for “even stronger international pressure” on North Korea in response to Pyongyang‘s fifth nuclear test.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida first held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The UN Security Council is currently working on new sanctions against North Korea’s latest and strongest-yet nuclear test on Sept. 9.

“The ministers noted that the DPRK’s flagrant disregard for multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions expressly prohibiting its ballistic missile and nuclear programs requires even stronger international pressure on the regime,“ said a joint statement adopted at the meeting, using the official acronym for North Korea.

”North Korea‘s provocative actions are further deepening its isolation and undermining the needs of its people, who suffer greatly at the hands of the regime. In this regard, the three countries are working closely with partners at the United Nations and in other fora to pressure the DPRK,“ the statement said.

It said that Kerry reiterated ”steadfast“ US commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan, ”including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities.“

Kerry’s comments were deemed an attempt to reconfirm its commitment as well as calm growing voices for South Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons.

Yun said after the meeting that it is the first time in 10 years the foreign ministers of the three countries had adopted a joint statement.

The three also ”discussed the important work currently taking place in the Security Council to further sanction North Korea and considered other possible measures of their own, in particular ways to further restrict revenue sources for the DPRK’s missile and nuclear programs, including through illicit activities,“ the statement said.

The three sides reaffirmed they remain open to credible negotiations with the North aimed at verifiable denuclearization of the North, and pledged to continue to work together to draw international attention to Pyongyang‘s human rights violations, the statement said.

”What we see is a looming perfect storm that may not only pounce on Northeast Asia but sweep over the entire world,“ Yun said at the start of the talks, calling the North’s nuclear and missile programs a ”time bomb“ and a threat to the world.

Kerry urged the North to freeze its nuclear program and return to the negotiating table.

”The immediate need is for them to freeze where they are, to agree to freeze and not to engage in any more provocative actions, not engage in more testing, particularly in order to bring countries together and to begin a serious negotiation about the future,“ he said.

China, the North‘s last-remaining major ally, has been reluctant to use its influence over Pyongyang for fear that pushing the regime too hard could result in instability in the North and hurt Chinese national interests.

China is one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the UN Security Council and the main provider of food and fuel to the impoverished North.

Later that day, Yun and Kishida held one-on-one talks and shared the concerns on North Korea’s evolving nuclear threat, the Foreign Ministry here said Monday.

”The two ministers expressed grave concerns over the North raising tensions to an unprecedented high level with its more frequent and stronger-than-ever provocations including two nuclear tests this year as well as various ballistic missile launches,“ the ministry said in a press release.

They also agreed to ”actively“ seek comprehensive and strong sanctions against the North through close coordination and cooperation with the international community including the United States, China and Russia, it added.

The North’s latest nuclear test comes eight months after its fourth nuclear device detonation in January which led the UNSC to adopt a resolution regarded as the toughest ever in March. That resolution mostly aimed at cutting off inflow of money that can be used in the communist country‘s nuclear development programs.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party said Monday that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon complimented President Park Geun-hye‘s follow-up measures on Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, adding China will play a crucial role in inter-Korean issues.

Chung Jin-suk, the party‘s floor leader, said Ban made the remark last week when South Korean lawmakers, including National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, were in the United States. Besides the speaker, floor leaders from the ruling and two main major opposition parties held talks with the secretary-general.

Ban was quoted as saying that Park was also successful in carrying out diplomatic efforts to find answers to North Korea’s provocations. The UN chief highlighted the importance of China in solving Pyongyang‘s nuclear development.

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