Seoul, Washington, Tokyo to cooperate for stronger sanctions on North Korea

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her U.S. and Japanese counterparts agreed Tuesday to cooperate to ensure that the U.N. Security Council can adopt a resolution for strong sanctions on North Korea for its latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Security Council has vowed to "expeditiously adopt a new resolution" with significant measures against North Korea.

North Korea said the rocket successfully put an Earth observation satellite into orbit on Sunday as part of its space development program.

Still, South Korea, the United States and other regional powers view the North's satellite launch as a cover for testing its ballistic missile technology, which is banned under U.N. resolutions.

Park and U.S. President Barack Obama "agreed to closely cooperate to make sure that the Security Council can adopt a resolution for strong and effective sanctions on North Korea," Cheong Wa Dae said of Park's telephone conversation with Obama.

Source: MENA