One month after the latest atomic experiment, the council appears to be struggling to make headway in introducing a fresh sanctions package. Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are pushing for even tougher steps including an expansion of a trade ban on coal, fuel and other resources, while China remains reluctant as the North’s top economic patron and diplomatic backer.

Yet Power pinned high hopes on overcoming the “slightly different perspectives,” while stressing the significance of the sanctions’ enforcement in all UN nations.

“We are confident we can get a strong resolution in response to the recent nuclear test, and see significant progress in designations and implementation of the resolution in the coming weeks and months.”

“But fundamentally, no matter what the resolution says, it’s going to be up to member states dealings with the DPRK to fully enforce the resolution in letter and spirit.”

Power began her rare three-day stay here on Saturday, after traveling to Japan last week.

Earlier in the day, she toured the Joint Security Area and the border village of Panmunjeom and met with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. The envoy also visited the Hanawon resettlement center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, holding talks with Vice Unification Minister Kim Hyung-suk and North Korean defectors.

On Monday, the envoy is scheduled to visit an alternative school for defectors and meet with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and other senior officials at Cheong Wa Dae and other agencies.

Her trip came as a fresh batch of satellite imagery pointed to increased activity at North Korea’s missile complex, bolstering speculation that the country is preparing for a new long-range rocket launch ahead of a key national event.

The images taken on Oct. 1 and posted Saturday on the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s 38 North blog showed crates on the launch pad next to the gantry tower and several large vehicles near the newly built fuel and oxidizer buildings at the Sohae station in the western town of Dongchang. Work also appears to be continuing at the vertical engine test stand.

“However, since both the gantry tower and the assembly structures on the launch pad are covered, it is unclear whether this activity is related to launch preparations or other operations,” analyst Jack Liu wrote.

Speculation has been rising that Pyongyang could press ahead to test fire another intercontinental ballistic missile or blow up an atomic device, or both, in celebration of the Oct. 10 anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party.

The communist state has carried out major provocations to coincide with key national holidays and political events. Its fifth nuclear test also came on the 68th anniversary of its regime’s establishment.

On Friday, the Washington-based instituted also posted recent images of intensified activities at all three tunnels of the North’s Punggye nuclear test site, which could suggest preparations for a new underground explosion.

The North’s state media on Saturday vowed to venture into space “more robustly as one of the top 10 space powers,” carrying a speech by a Pyongyang official to the UN’s first committee on disarmament and international security last week.

Pyongyang claims its satellite launches, which entail similar technologies for long-range missile experiments, are in line with its right to peaceful use of space.

The official also reaffirmed Pyongyang’s resolve to continue “quantitatively strengthening self-defensive nuclear forces,” calling it a national policy indispensable to counter US threats of a nuclear war.

To better detect signals of another provocation, South Korea and the US are mobilizing reconnaissance assets and tightening military readiness.

Seoul’s Defense Minister Han Min-koo said during Friday’s parliamentary audit that the military is “flexibly reinforcing readiness posture according to changes in the North’s movement.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin also said the allies began operating enhanced surveillance assets last Friday, with a general-level officer taking charge of the command and control center.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)