UK sends another warship to help impose North Korea sanctions
The move comes despite plans for talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un over the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Wednesday 11 April 2018 08:53, UK
The UK is to deploy a third warship to help enforce sanctions against North Korea.
Assault ship HMS Albion will join HMS Sutherland and HMS Argyll and is due in the region later in the year to take part in exercises with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
The ships will enforce the UN ban on ship-to-ship transfers of goods destined for North Korea.
Several Chinese-registered ships have been seized for secretly siphoning off oil to North Korean ships in international waters over the past few months.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Our Armed Forces are at the forefront of Global Britain, and the deployment of HMS Albion, Sutherland and Argyll demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our international responsibilities and to maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the region.
"Until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions, the UK will continue working closely with partners and allies to keep up pressure and strictly enforce existing sanctions, ensuring not only regional security but that of the UK as well."
Despite recent diplomatic overtures towards South Korea and the US, strict sanctions remain in place against the North Korean regime, due to its nuclear weapons programme.
Secret talks between the US and North Korea have now reportedly seen Pyongyang reveal directly its willingness to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are due to meet by May.
If it goes ahead the meeting will follow a summit between the leaders of North and South Korea on 27 April - only the third ever to be held between the two countries.
The shift in tone around North Korean diplomacy has come as a surprise to many - particularly since Mr Trump promised to bring "fire and fury" to the state if it continued with nuclear threats.
The Government announced in November that Plymouth-based HMS Sutherland and HMS Argyll wiould be deployed to the Pacific region to strengthen relations with allies in the area.