The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Park leaves for Mexico for talks with Pena Nieto

By KH디지털2

Published : April 3, 2016 - 09:54

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South Korean President Park Geun-hye left for Mexico City Saturday for next week's talks with her Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto.

The two leaders are set to meet on Monday to discuss a wide range of issues, as well as how to cooperate on the faithful and effective implementation of the U.N. sanctions on North Korea, South Korean officials said.

The U.N. Security Council has slapped North Korea with the toughest-ever sanctions punish the communist country for its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7.

Mexico City is the second and last stop on Park's eight-day tour that took her to Washington for crucial back-to-back summits with her U.S., Chinese and Japanese counterparts on the margins of the global nuclear security talks.

In Washington, the leaders of the regional powers have vowed to strictly enforce the strong U.N. sanctions on North Korea in the latest pressure on the isolated country over its nuclear program.

The sanctions resolution calls for, among other things, the mandatory inspection of all cargo going into and out of the North, and a ban on the country's exports of coal and other mineral resources to cut off North Korea's access to hard currency.

Separately, Park pledged Friday to join international efforts to develop nuclear security regimes as she called on the United Nations and other international organizations to strengthen their role in nuclear security.

Her comments came amid growing concerns over possible nuclear and radiological attacks by terrorist groups.

U.S. President Barack Obama said al Qaida has long sought nuclear materials and the Islamic State militant group has already used chemical weapons, including mustard gas, in Syria and Iraq.

This week's summit was the fourth and final one since 2010, when Obama hosted the inaugural session as part of efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. (Yonhap)