Prepare New Sanctions for North Korea, National Security Adviser Calls US Still Pursuing Pyongyang's Denuclearization

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - The United States is preparing new sanctions against North Korea, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday, as Pyongyang continues to pursue banned missile development and signaling the possibility of new nuclear tests.

"We have a series of new sanctions measures coming as we speak", he told a conference in Seoul, launching Reuters on December 1.

Sullivan, speaking via a live video link, did not elaborate but said Washington was committed to using pressure and diplomacy to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal.

According to Sullivan, the 'North Star' of Joe Biden's US-North Korea policy is the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. To that end, Uncle Sam's country remains steadfast in pursuing that goal while being flexible in working with partners on how to achieve it.

He pointed to increased cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan, which have stepped up joint military exercises. The United States is also working on a more "visible" regional presence of its strategic assets, Sullivan said, referring to key weapons such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers.

Meanwhile, North Korea says denuclearization is impossible, accusing the United States and its allies of pursuing a "hostile" policy, including sanctions, that has left it with no choice but to expand its military.

Sullivan said Washington held no ill will toward North Korea and was open to talks without preconditions.

"Pyongyang rejects this sincere outreach", he said.

The last US sanctions, imposed in October, targeted two Singapore-registered companies and a Marshall Islands-registered company that Washington says supports Pyongyang's weapons and military programs.

Still, decades of US-led sanctions have not stopped North Korea's increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear weapons programs, with China and Russia have blocked recent attempts to impose more UN sanctions, by saying otherwise to strike a chord and avoid endangering humanity.

Sullivan said the administration has no illusions about the challenge, but the United States remains committed to holding North Korea accountable.