Over 20 countries submit action plans on how to enforce N.K. sanctions

SEOUL, (Yonhap) — Over 20 countries, including the United States and Russia, have submitted their detailed action plans on how they will enforce sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear test and a long-range missile launch earlier this year, sources said Friday.

According to the sources, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, Egypt, Poland and other countries have also submitted their “implementation reports” to a U.N. committee in charge of the sanctions.

The U.N. Security Council earlier asked the 193 member countries to draw up their own plans on how to enforce the sanctions on the North under its latest resolution adopted in the wake of Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test and a long-range missile launch in the previous two months.

They were asked to submit the plans within 90 days of the U.N. adopting the resolution in March. That falls on June 2 (local time), though it is not a mandatory deadline.

It has not been confirmed yet whether China, the closest ally to North Korea, has submitted its implementation report. Diplomatic sources said that China has expressed its intention to send in its own report even if it is not able to meet the deadline set by the U.N.

On Thursday, South Korea said that it had submitted its implementation report to the U.N. in which the government vowed to “continue to contribute to the international efforts to strengthen the global nonproliferation regime.”