Allies urge stronger international push against North Korea’s nuclear programme

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves to the participants of the National Mothers’ Meeting in Pyongyang (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

The national security advisers of the US, South Korea and Japan have called for a stronger international push to suppress North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, its cybertheft activities and alleged arms transfers to Russia.

The meeting in Seoul came as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerating the expansion of his nuclear and missile programme and flaunting an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorises the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.