"...imposing further sanctions on North Korea, which he said was “not even close” to taking steps to end its nuclear programme."

North Korea - under the current leadership - will never end its nuclear programme. It is their most important leverage in discussions with other nations, and the main reason they get much more international attention and aid than other equally poor countries.

They may slow down development for a while, or claim to cease development at some point in return for aid, but a few years later it will return stronger than before. We've already seen this happen once.

Efforts to end the North Korean nuclear programme without significant changes to their situation are futile. The US should know this by now.