A summit on curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions will focus in part on how to ensure countries fully implement all the sanctions imposed on the reclusive state, a Canadian government source has said.
Senior officials from 20 nations are to gather in Vancouver tomorrow for the full-day meeting.
It is which is designed to increased diplomatic and financial pressure on North Korea to scrap its nuclear programs. Canada and the United States are co-hosts.
The United Nations Security Council, which has already imposed a wide range of sanctions, last month approved new punitive measures seeking to limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shows little sign of bowing to the pressure.
The Canadian government source said some nations had less experience than others when it came to sanctions.
"It is not insignificant to talk about how we can ensure an even application of those sanctions everywhere, not just by some of the larger or more developed countries," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
US officials say the meeting will probe how to boost maritime security around North Korea to intercept ships trying to defy sanctions.
Eric Walsh, Canada's ambassador to South Korea, said the uneven way punitive measures were being applied meant "there are a lot of gaps."
Mr Walsh told a panel at the University of British Columbia that "one of the things we want to do is look at how we can improve enforcement."
Although immediate fears of war have eased after the first round of intra-Korean talks in more than two years last week, tensions over Mr Kim's missile tests remain high.
Meanwhile, North Korea has called for further talks on sending its athletes to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to be held on Wednesday at the truce village of Panmunjom.
The South's unification ministry said it had yet to decide whether it would accept the request.
North Korea asked for the meeting to be held at Peace House on the South Korean side of the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries.
It comes after the two Koreas met earlier to discuss North Korea sending a performance art group to the Winter Olympics, which begin in February.
The two countries had agreed to hold follow-up discussions regarding North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympics after the two Koreas last week held their first formal dialogue in more than two years amid high tension over the North's missile and nuclear programmes.
North Korea is also planning to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in addition to the athletes and performance group.
South Korea is also reportedly seeking to form a united women's ice hockey team with the North to participate in the games.
North and South Korea will also hold talks hosted by the International Olympics Committee, separate from the inter-Korean talks this weekend.
