Kerry to pressure China over North Korea: Official

US Secretary of State John Kerry will pressurize China to curb North Korea in the wake of its recent nuclear test during a visit to East Asia, a senior State Department official says.

Kerry will also press Southeast Asia to be united in responding to China’s claims in the South China Sea, the official, who is traveling with Kerry, told journalists.

The visit will last three days starting in the region in Laos where Kerry will attend the 2016 meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The US top diplomat is scheduled to travel to Cambodia on Monday night and from there he will go to Beijing on Wednesday for talks with Chinese officials.

In Beijing, Kerry will call on the nations, China in particular, to respond to North Korean nuclear test on January 6 through additional UN sanctions, the official noted.

On January 6, Pyongyang said it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test, hours after seismologists detected an artificial earthquake close to the country's main atomic test site northeast of North Korea.

"It is very important to present a united front ... but that united front has to be a firm one, not a flaccid one," the official said.

It is highly important to "cut off avenues of proliferation and retard North Korea’s ability to gain the wherewithal to advance its nuclear and its missile programs," he added, noting China has to do more in this regard.

"North Korea is still engaged in illicit and proliferation activities," he said. "They have very few avenues for conducting business with the international community that don’t in some fashion involve transiting China.

"Despite the determination and efforts of the Chinese government, clearly there is more that they can do."

North Korea accuses the US of plotting with regional allies to topple its government. Pyongyang says it will not relinquish its nuclear deterrence unless the US ends its hostile policy toward it and dissolves the US-led UN command in the region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the US official said Kerry will have "in depth" discussions on the South China Sea in Beijing, which has caused tension between China and ASEAN countries.

China claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The waters are believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas.

Washington has sided with China’s rivals in the territorial dispute, with Beijing accusing the US of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

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