Blinken Urges Stepped-up Sanctions Enforcement against N. Korea

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged countries to step up enforcement of sanctions against North Korea in response to its ballistic missile launch.

This came in remarks he made on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, and the South Korean Foreign Minister and his Japanese counterpart were standing next to him.

"Countries that have influence with North Korea should use it to try to move it from the course that it's been on now for the last couple of years," Blinken said.

On Saturday, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, which apparently landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to Tokyo, ahead of the US-South Korean military exercises scheduled for next week in Washington.

Japan’s government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile eastward. It flew for about 66 minutes and covered a distance of about 900 km.