MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats slammed North Korea with a sharp rebuke Saturday over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests and admonished Pyongyang to comply with its duty of helping avert conflicts as a member of Asia’s biggest security forum.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers, however, were split on an American proposal to suspend Pyongyang from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-nation bloc that includes North Korea and its bitter adversaries the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

The ASEAN ministers reiterated in a joint statement their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North’s two ICBM tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability.

The ministers traditionally issue a communique containing their diverse concerns, and their issuance of a separate statement on North Korea’s missile tests and nuclear weapons program reflects their deep worries about the issue.

“These developments seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the region and the world,” the ministers said in their statement. They urged the North to immediately and fully comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Related: North Korea Hits Out at U.S. Travel Ban

They also backed efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and said their 10-nation bloc was ready “to play a constructive role in contributing to peace and stability” on the Korean Peninsula.

All the countries involved in the so-called six-party talks aimed at taming the North’s nuclear ambitions belong to the ASEAN Regional Forum, but Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said at a news conference Saturday that there was no plan for those nations to meet on the sidelines of the Manila meetings.

Related: North Korea Crisis: How Events Have Unfolded Under Trump

North Korea pulled out of the talks — which also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — in 2009 to protest international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the ministers were divided over a U.S. proposal to suspend the North from the ASEAN Regional Forum, which will hold its annual meeting on Monday.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will attend Monday’s meeting. With the U.S., Japan and South Korea expected to push for stronger actions against the North, a verbal showdown looms.

“There were views that, ‘How can we hear them out or confront them if they’re not there?’ But there’s also a view that we should give them an ultimatum,” Cayetano said late Friday after discussing the issue with other foreign ministers.

The ministers “strongly call upon” North Korea, as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, to help “maintain the Asia Pacific as a region of lasting peace, stability, friendship and prosperity,” the ministers said in their statement. </s> MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asia's top diplomats slammed North Korea with a sharp rebuke Saturday over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests and admonished Pyongyang to comply with its duty of helping avert conflicts as a member of Asia's biggest security forum.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers, however, were split on an American proposal to suspend Pyongyang from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-nation bloc that includes North Korea and its bitter adversaries the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

The ASEAN ministers reiterated in a joint statement their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North's two ICBM tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability.

The ministers traditionally issue a communique containing their diverse concerns, and their issuance of a separate statement on North Korea's missile tests and nuclear weapons program reflects their deep worries about the issue.

"These developments seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the region and the world," the ministers said in their statement. They urged the North to immediately and fully comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Related: North Korea Hits Out at U.S. Travel Ban

They also backed efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and said their 10-nation bloc was ready "to play a constructive role in contributing to peace and stability" on the Korean Peninsula.

All the countries involved in the so-called six-party talks aimed at taming the North's nuclear ambitions belong to the ASEAN Regional Forum, but Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said at a news conference Saturday that there was no plan for those nations to meet on the sidelines of the Manila meetings.

Related: North Korea Crisis: How Events Have Unfolded Under Trump

North Korea pulled out of the talks — which also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — in 2009 to protest international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the ministers were divided over a U.S. proposal to suspend the North from the ASEAN Regional Forum, which will hold its annual meeting on Monday.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will attend Monday's meeting. With the U.S., Japan and South Korea expected to push for stronger actions against the North, a verbal showdown looms.

"There were views that, 'How can we hear them out or confront them if they're not there?' But there's also a view that we should give them an ultimatum," Cayetano said late Friday after discussing the issue with other foreign ministers.

The ministers "strongly call upon" North Korea, as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, to help "maintain the Asia Pacific as a region of lasting peace, stability, friendship and prosperity," the ministers said in their statement. </s> MANILA, Philippines >> Southeast Asia’s top diplomats slammed North Korea with a sharp rebuke Saturday over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests and admonished Pyongyang to comply with its duty of helping avert conflicts as a member of Asia’s biggest security forum.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers, however, were split on an American proposal to suspend Pyongyang from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-nation bloc that includes North Korea and its bitter adversaries the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

The ASEAN ministers reiterated in a joint statement their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North’s two ICBM tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability. The ministers traditionally issue a communique containing their diverse concerns, and their issuance of a separate statement on North Korea’s missile tests and nuclear weapons program reflects their deep worries about the issue.

“These developments seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the region and the world,” the ministers said in their statement. They urged the North to immediately and fully comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

They also backed efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and said their 10-nation bloc was ready “to play a constructive role in contributing to peace and stability” on the Korean Peninsula.

All the countries involved in the so-called six-party talks aimed at taming the North’s nuclear ambitions belong to the ASEAN Regional Forum, but Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said at a news conference Saturday that there was no plan for those nations to meet on the sidelines of the Manila meetings. North Korea pulled out of the talks — which also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — in 2009 to protest international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the ministers were divided over a U.S. proposal to suspend the North from the ASEAN Regional Forum, which will hold its annual meeting on Monday.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will attend Monday’s meeting. With the U.S., Japan and South Korea expected to push for stronger actions against the North, a verbal showdown looms.

“There were views that, ‘How can we hear them out or confront them if they’re not there?’ But there’s also a view that we should give them an ultimatum,” Cayetano said late Friday after discussing the issue with other foreign ministers.

The ministers “strongly call upon” North Korea, as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, to help “maintain the Asia Pacific as a region of lasting peace, stability, friendship and prosperity,” the ministers said in their statement.

On the territorial disputes in the South China Sea that embroil ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the 10 foreign ministers on Saturday approved a framework of a long-proposed code of conduct aimed at preventing clashes in the disputed waters, Bolivar said.

The Philippines, which serves as ASEAN chairman this year, called the conclusion of talks between China and ASEAN to finalize the framework “a very big step.” Critics, however, say the framework serves only as a brief outline of previously agreed principles and fails to mention concerns over China’s newly built islands or an arbitration ruling last year that invalidated Beijing’s claims to virtually all of the South China Sea. China has refused to recognize the ruling, based on a 1982 maritime treaty.

A final copy of the framework seen by The Associated Press also did not mention whether the code should be legally binding, which most ASEAN states demand but China opposes, or the extent of disputed areas to be covered by such a code. The code will not serve as a tool to settle territorial disputes, according to the framework. </s> MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asia's top diplomats slammed North Korea with a sharp rebuke Saturday over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests and admonished Pyongyang to comply with its duty of helping avert conflicts as a member of Asia's biggest security forum.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers, however, were split on an American proposal to suspend Pyongyang from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-nation bloc that includes North Korea and its bitter adversaries the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

The ASEAN ministers reiterated in a joint statement their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability.

The statement came before the United Nations Security Council imposed a round of new sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's ICBM tests.

The U.S.-drafted resolution bans North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. It also prohibits countries from increasing the current numbers of North Korean laborers working abroad, bans new joint ventures with North Korea and any new investment in current joint ventures.

The unanimously adopted resolution adds nine individuals and four entities to the U.N. blacklist, including North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank, subjecting them to a global asset freeze and travel ban.

Related: North Korea Hits Out at U.S. Travel Ban

"The North Korean threat ... is rapidly growing more dangerous," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council after the 15-member body imposed the new sanctions.

The North's neighbors have been forced to grapple with its continued defiance to international calls for it to stand down on its missile tests and nuclear weapons program.

"These developments seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the region and the world," the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers said in their statement. They urged the North to immediately and fully comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

They also backed efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and said their 10-nation bloc was ready "to play a constructive role in contributing to peace and stability" on the Korean Peninsula.

Related: North Korea Crisis: How Events Have Unfolded Under Trump

All the countries involved in the so-called six-party talks aimed at taming the North's nuclear ambitions belong to the ASEAN Regional Forum, but Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said at a news conference Saturday that there was no plan for those nations to meet on the sidelines of the Manila meetings.

North Korea pulled out of the talks — which also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — in 2009 to protest international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the ministers were divided over a U.S. proposal to suspend the North from the ASEAN Regional Forum, which will hold its annual meeting on Monday.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will attend Monday's meeting. With the U.S., Japan and South Korea expected to push for stronger actions against the North, a verbal showdown looms.

"There were views that, 'How can we hear them out or confront them if they're not there?' But there's also a view that we should give them an ultimatum," Cayetano said late Friday after discussing the issue with other foreign ministers. </s> North Korea has violated a number of sanctions by the United Nations, most notably continuing their nuclear weapons and missile programs, a 149-page confidential UN report said Friday.

The report comes days after reports suggesting the North is developing new missiles. The United States' top diplomat Mike Pompeo called on countries to maintain pressure on the North and not violate UN sanctions.

Read more: Is North Korea defying the US in expanding weapons production?

What the report said

· North Korea "has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and continued to defy Security Council resolutions through a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products, as well as through transfers of coal at sea during 2018."

· US figures estimated that North Korea had procured over 500,000 barrels of petroleum products in the first five months of 2018. The transfer of the products involved 40 vessels and 120 associated companies.

· North Korea continued to receive revenue from exports of banned commodities. For instance, it received $14 million (€12 million) from October 2017 to March 2018 for deliveries of iron and steel to China, India and other countries.

· North Korea also violated a textile ban by exporting more than $100 million in goods to China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay within the same time period.

· Pyeongyang "attempted to supply small arms and light weapons (SALW) and other military equipment via foreign intermediaries" to Libya, Yemen and Sudan.

· A Syrian arms trafficker, named as Hussein Al-Ali in the report, offered "a range of conventional arms, and in some cases ballistic missiles to armed groups in Yemen and Libya" that were produced in North Korea. Al-Ali also helped negotiate a "protocol of operation" with Yemen's Huthi rebels in Damascus in 2016.

America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo reiterated his warning toward Russia, China and other countries against any violation of international sanctions on North Korea.

In Singapore ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Pompeo told reporters that the US had its own new, credible reports that Russia is violating UN sanctions, including allowing for joint ventures with North Korean companies and issuing new permits for North Korean guest workers.

"If these reports prove accurate, and we have every reason to believe that they are, that would be in violation," Pompeo said, pointing out that the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose these sanctions.

"I want to remind every nation that has supported these resolutions that this is a serious issue and something we will discuss with Moscow," he added.

Pompeo said the US expects "all countries to abide to the UN Security Council resolutions and enforce sanctions on North Korea. Any violation that detracts from the world's goal of finally, fully denuclearizing North Korea would be something that America would take very seriously."

Where did the report come from? The report was put together by independent experts who monitored the implementation of UN sanctions over six months. The report was submitted to the UN's North Korea Sanctions Committee on Friday.

What are the UN's sanctions on North Korea? When North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, the UN demanded it cease all future nuclear testing and in turn set up the North Korea Sanctions Committee — part of the global organization's Security Council. It also prohibited countries from exporting military equipment and luxury items to the North. Several other sanctions have been imposed over the past decade, banning North Korea from exporting gold and other rare earth metals, coal, lead, seafood and textiles. The UN has also imposed restrictions on North Korea's Federal Trade Bank, banned joint ventures and barred North Korean nationals from working in other countries.

North Korea promises denuclearization: At a landmark summit in Singapore with US President Donald Trump in June, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un committed to "complete denuclearization." In return, Kim asked for "security guarantees" from the US. Trump tweeted a day after the summit that "North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat." </s> UNITED NATIONS, Sept 12 (APP): The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a new resolution, banning North Korea’s textile exports and capping its oil imports following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test conducted last week. </s> UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (APP): The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea’s latest missile test Friday, calling it “highly provocative”, less than a week after adopting its harshest sanctions to date against Pyongyang.

 “The Security Council stressed that these actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all U.N. member states,” the 15-member council said in a statement.

 The statement called on member states to fully implement Security Council resolutions and expressed a “commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation.”

 “The Security Council had brief consultations and it has agreed on a press statement … in which the council condemned the highly provocative launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador and current president of the Security Council, told reporters after the emergency meeting, requested by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.

 Friday’s test is the second launch of a missile over the Japanese mainland in a month, and is believed to have flown 3,700 km, falling into the Pacific Ocean some 2,200km off Cape Erimo, Hokkaido.

 Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Koro Bessho, Japan’s ambassador to the U.N., condemned the launch as “a grave threat” to his country’s security.

 “It is very clear that it’s a real threat to the peace and security of the world as a whole, and I’m sure the Security Council will be joining me in condemning what North Korea has been doing,” Bessho said before entering the closed-door meeting.

 Beyond the press statement, however, no further sanctions are expected from the council at this time. Diplomats instead spoke of the importance of implementing current measures, including those outlined by a resolution unanimously approved by the council on Monday. The tightened restrictions include a cap on North Korean oil imports and a total ban on textiles. </s> UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned North Korea’s “highly provocative” ballistic missile test on Friday and demanded that Pyongyang immediately halt its “outrageous actions” and demonstrate its commitment to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

The U.N.’s most powerful body accused North Korea of undermining regional peace and security by launching its latest missile over Japan and said its nuclear and missile tests “have caused grave security concerns around the world” and threaten all 193 U.N. member states.

North Korea’s longest-ever test flight of a ballistic missile early Friday from Sunan, the location of Pyongyang’s international airport, signaled both defiance of North Korea’s rivals and a big technological advance. After hurtling over Japan, it landed in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” in August, the North has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over Japan. July saw the country’s first tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

The intermediate-range missile test came four days after the Security Council imposed tough new sanctions on the North for its Sept. 3 missile test including a ban on textile exports and natural gas imports — and caps on its import of oil and petroleum products. The U.S. said the latest sanctions, combined with previous measures, would ban over 90 percent of North Korea’s exports reported in 2016, its main source of hard currency used to finance its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the sanctions and said the North would “redouble its efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and right to existence.”

The Security Council stressed in Friday’s press statement after a closed-door emergency meeting that all countries must “fully, comprehensively and immediately” implement all U.N. sanctions.

Japan’s U.N. Ambassador Koro Bessho called the launch an “outrageous act” that is not only a threat to Japan’s security but a threat to the world as a whole.”

Bessho and the British, French and Swedish ambassadors demanded that all sanctions be implemented.

Calling the latest launch a “terrible, egregious, illegal, provocative reckless act,” Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said North Korea’s largest trading partners and closest links — a clear reference to China — must “demonstrate that they are doing everything in their power to implement the sanctions of the Security Council and to encourage the North Korean regime to change course.”

France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country is ready to work on tougher U.N. and EU measures to convince Pyongyang that there is no interest in an escalation, and to bring it to the negotiating table. It said North Korea will also be discussed during next week’s annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly.

The Security Council also emphasized the importance of North Korea working to reduce tension in the Korean Peninsula — and it reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the territory divided between authoritarian North Korea and democratic South Korea.

The council welcomed efforts by its members and other countries “to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution” to the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, strongly backed the need for dialogue saying the United States needs to start talks with North Korea, which the Trump administration has ruled out.

Nebenzia told reporters after the meeting that Russia called on the U.S. and others to implement the “political and diplomatic solutions” called for in the latest sanctions resolution.

“Without implementing this, we also will consider it as a non-compliance with the resolution,” Nebenzia said, adding that it also may be time for the council to “think out of the box” on how to deal with North Korea.

The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target U.S. troops both in Asia and in the U.S. homeland.

This, in turn, is meant to allow North Korea greater military freedom in the region by raising doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect its Asian allies.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the latest missile traveled about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached a maximum height of 770 kilometers (478 miles). Guam, which is the home of important U.S. military assets, is 3,400 kilometers (2,112 miles) away from North Korea.

Despite its impressive range, the missile probably still is not accurate enough to destroy Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, said David Wright, a U.S. missile expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a liberal who initially pushed for talks with North Korea, said its tests currently make dialogue “impossible.”

“If North Korea provokes us or our allies, we have the strength to smash the attempt at an early stage and inflict a level of damage it would be impossible to recover from,” he said.

North Korea has repeatedly vowed to continue its weapons tests amid what it calls U.S. hostility — by which it means the presence of nearly 80,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan and South Korea.

Robust international diplomacy on the issue has been stalled for years, and there’s so far little sign that senior officials from North Korea and the U.S. might sit down to discuss ways to slow the North’s determined march toward inclusion among the world’s nuclear weapons powers.

South Korea detected North Korean launch preparations Thursday, and President Moon ordered a live-fire ballistic missile drill if the launch happened. This allowed Seoul to fire missiles only six minutes after the North’s launch Friday. One of the two missiles hit a sea target about 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, which was approximately the distance to Pyongyang’s Sunan, but the other failed in flight shortly after launch. </s> UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil.

 It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia. 

 A week ago, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for the "strongest possible" sanctions on North Korea and had sought an oil embargo on Pyongyang.

 On Monday, Haley said the United States was not looking for war with North Korea and that Pyongyang had "not yet passed the point of no return." 

 "If it agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. If it proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it," she told the Security Council after the council adopted the new sanctions. 

 Haley added that the latest resolution "would not have happened" without the strong relationship that had developed between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

 China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, urged North Korea to "take seriously the expectations and will of the international community" and called on all parties to remain "cool-headed" and not stoke tensions.

 A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. In negotiations on the latest resolution, diplomats said Russia had questioned what leverage the Security Council would have left if North Korea continued to conduct nuclear and missile testing. 

 "This is a compromise in order to get everybody on board," French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said of the draft ahead of the vote.

 Textiles were North Korea's second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.

 The resolution imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea's crude.

 A U.S. official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imported some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4 million barrels of crude oil. 

 

 'DUE PRICE'

 Trump has vowed not to allow North Korea to develop a nuclear missile capable of hitting the mainland United States.

 North Korea was condemned globally for its latest nuclear test on Sept. 3, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb. 

 Pyongyang warned the United States on Monday that it would pay a "due price" for spearheading efforts on U.N. sanctions.

 "The world will witness how the DPRK tames the U.S. gangsters by taking a series of actions tougher than they have ever envisaged," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. 

 DPRK stands for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. 

 The tensions have weighed on global markets, but there was some relief on Monday among investors that North Korea refrained from conducting another missile test this past weekend to celebrate 69 years since its founding.

 European Council on Foreign Relations U.N. expert Richard Gowan said the United States had "rather predictably been mugged by reality" during the most recent negotiations" on sanctions. He added it was arguable, however, that the high U.S. bar had pushed China and Russia to agree to more limited sanctions "relatively quickly." 

 "China and Russia were never going to accept the severe package of sanctions tabled by Haley," Gowan aid. "This sort of lengthy, incremental diplomatic bargaining may be the best it can hope for. The alternative is, after all, a slide towards war." 

 Traditionally, the United States has discreetly negotiated with China on any North Korea sanctions before expanding talks to the full council once the five veto powers have agreed. More recently, that has typically taken one to three months. 

 China supplies most of North Korea's crude. Chinese officials have privately expressed fears that an oil embargo could risk causing massive instability in its neighbor.

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang stressed the need for consensus over North Korea and maintaining peace.

 "I have said before that China agrees that the U.N. Security Council should make a further response and necessary actions with respect to North Korea's sixth nuclear test," he told reporters.

 Russia and China have been critical that there is too much focus on pressuring North Korea with sanctions and not enough debate about kick-starting talks with Pyongyang. 

 

 (Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Philip Wen in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)
The Philippines suspends trade relations with North Korea to comply with a recent United Nations Security Council resolution over its repeated missile tests.