(VOVworld) – Foreign ministers of the US, Japan, and South Korea met in New York on Sunday, ahead of the UN meetings, to discuss tougher measures against North Korea and expand trilateral cooperation after Pyongyang’s 5^th nuclear test.

Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and US Secretary of State John Kerry after the meeting (Photo: EPA/VNA)

The meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, was the first since North Korea’s latest nuclear test. It will be one of the main issues discussed by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week. In a joint statement, the ministers said North Korea’s ignorance for the UN resolutions prohibiting its missile and nuclear programs called for even stronger international pressure. They discusses the current work taking place in the Security Council to further sanction North Korea and considered other possible measures of their own, in particular further restrict financial sources for North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, including through illicit activities. However, the leaders reaffirmed that that they remain open to credible talks aimed at full denuclearization of North Korea.