Australia sends guided missile frigate to E. China Sea to enforce N. Korea sanctions

Australia has assigned a guided missile frigate to the East China Sea to boost international efforts to enforce sanctions against North Korea. Defense Force Chief of Joint Operations, Air Marshall Mel Hupfeld, said the warship with a crew of 230 will be supported by two Australian AP-3C Orion surveillance aircraft based in Japan. “Despite the easing of tensions on the Korea Peninsula, Pyongyang continues with its nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons programs in defiance of… UN Security Council resolutions,” AP quoted Hupfeld as saying. The occasional deployment of maritime patrol aircraft and surface vessels to the region “adds weight to Australia’s ongoing economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea and enhances the capacity of ongoing multinational enforcement efforts,” he said.