The Latest: China says US can’t insist it solve NKorea alone

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest on the U.N.’s ministerial meeting on North Korea (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

China’s deputy U.N. ambassador is pushing back against U.S. insistence that the Asian country holds the key to resolving North Korea’s escalating nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Wu Haitao told a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council Friday that “the current situation on the (Korean) Peninsula is not caused by any one party alone, and it is not possible to impose on any one party the responsibility of solving the problem.”

Wu said: “The parties concerned should move towards each other instead of engaging in rhetoric blaming, and not shift responsibility to others.”

He also criticized unilateral sanctions against North Korea — which the U.S., European Union, Japan and others have imposed — saying they undermine Security Council unity “and should be abandoned.”

Wu said “the hope for peace is not totally obliterated” and urged all parties to “keep in mind the big picture of maintaining peace and stability” and end rhetoric that exacerbates tensions.

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12:30 p.m.

Japan’s foreign minister is urging the international community to maximize pressure on North Korea “by all means available,” saying there is no other way to get Pyongyang to curb its escalating nuclear and missile programs.

Taro Kono announced at a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council Friday that Japan has ordered the assets of 19 North Korean entities to be frozen, and he called on other countries to introduce or strengthen sanctions against the North.

Kono said last week’s visit to Pyongyang by U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman “only reconfirmed the dire reality” that North Korea “is nowhere near ready” to abandon its nuclear and missile programs, “nor is it interested in returning to a meaningful dialogue.”

He urged the Security Council not to backtrack from the demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear and missile programs “in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.”