Cut funding, minimise diplomatic ties with N’Korea, US tells Asian ministers

Amid growing tension in the Korean peninsula, US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson has told Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Thursday to cut funding and minimise diplomatic ties with North Korea over its continued missile activities.

Tillerson made the call while addressing the Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting which had all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He urged Asian ministers to do more to help cut funding streams for North Korea’s continued nuclear and missile programs and to minimize diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Tillerson called on ASEAN countries to fully implement U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, which is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States, and to show a united front on the issue, Murphy said.

“We think that more can be done, not just in Southeast Asia,” he told reporters. “We are encouraging continued and further steps across all of ASEAN.”

The comments of the US Secretary of State is coming after another American citizen was arrested by authorities in North Korea for allegedly engaging in acts of hostility aimed at overthrowing the country.

Reports say, the Korean-American citizen, Kim Sang Dok, 58, an accounting instructor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, was “intercepted” at Pyongyang International Airport on April 22.

Korean Central News Agency said Dok was being detained while authorities conduct a detailed investigation into his alleged crime.

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