ASEAN Members Urged to Enact Sanctions Agains North Korea

(RV - 23 July 09) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Asian nations today to vigorously
enforce the latest U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

The sanctions are intended to deny the North’s ships access to ports for shipping banned cargo and to cooperate in enforcing financial sanctions against designated firms that support North Korea's nuclear program.

Speaking to ASEAN delegates in Bangkok in Thailand Clinton also said Washington would pursue «every avenue» to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

John Swenson Wright is a Senior Lecturer in East Asian studies and a visiting Professor at Seoul National University.

He says there is a growing consensus among Asian nations that something has to be done to deal with the threat posed by North Korea.