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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson poses for a commemorative photo with foreign ministers of ASEAN countries

The US Donald Trump administration is demanding reduced diplomatic ties with Pyongyang and the blocking of revenue streams to North Korea from Southeast Asian countries as part of its policy approach of “maximum pressure and engagement.”

Speaking at a US-ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Washington on May 4, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson requested that ASEAN take “appropriate actions to fully implement all of the [UN] Security Council resolutions” on North Korea, a State Department official reported on May 5.

In a press conference after the meeting, State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy reported Tillerson as saying this after making it clear that the Trump administration’s aim is denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“[T]he United States is asking countries, including our partners in ASEAN, to take efforts to deny the revenue streams that North Korea has enjoyed around the region, and . . . to minimize [diplomatic relations] so that North Korea does not gain benefit from its diplomatic channels for its nuclear and missile aspirations,” Murphy said.

Stressing that the US is not “specifically encouraging any countries to formally cut diplomatic ties,” Murphy called for investigations into visa extensions for North Korean workers, money laundering and smuggling, and businesses serving as legal fronts.

Tillerson presided over an Apr. 28 meeting of ministers addressing North Korean nuclear program-related issues in UNSC countries, where he urged UN members to suspend or downgrade diplomatic ties with North Korea.

All 10 ASEAN members currently have diplomatic relations with North Korea, and five of them - Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia - have embassies or missions in Pyongyang.

The US Statement Department also said South China Sea issues were discussed at the May 4 meeting.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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