Korea, U.S. vow stronger sanctions on N. Korea

Over in Washington... South Korea's foreign minister held talks on Tuesday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken.The two diplomats discussed a wide range of issues, with North Korea topping their agenda.Hwang Sung-hee reports. South Korea and the United States have agreed to ramp up the pressure on North Korea... in an effort to get North Korea to denuclearize.The vow came after South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken met for talks on Tuesday in Washington.Blinken is filling in for Secretary of State John Kerry, who is recovering from a leg injury after a cycling accident.Referring to the six-party denuclearization talks, Seoul's foreign ministry said South Korea and the U.S. will respond strongly to any North Korean provocations or threats,... while strengthening cooperation with the other members of the talks for resuming meaningful dialogue.The multilateral dialogue involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia has been stalled for more than six years.Regarding President Park Geun-hye's visit to Washington, the two sides agreed to work together to reschedule her trip to the earliest possible date.The South Korean leader postponed her trip last week to cope with the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, at home.The South Korean minister also briefed Blinken on the efforts Korea is making to improve ties with Japan ahead of the 50th anniversary of the normalization of their relations next week.Yun is expected to visit Tokyo next Monday to attend the celebrations at the Korean embassy in Japan and meet with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.The U.S. official said he looked forward to more cooperation between the three countries.Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News.