Australia urges tighter ban on North Korea Australia will urge China this week to clamp down on the flow of technology and equipment crossing its borders into North Korea that could be used by the rogue nation in its nuclear weapons program. Foreign Minister Bob Carr will try to persuade his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, to tighten the enforcement of UN-backed sanctions aimed at forcing the hermit state to abandon its goal of becoming a fully-fledged nuclear power. Amid growing fears the rogue nation's increasingly aggressive stance towards South Korea could spiral out of control, Senator Carr will raise the issue during a visit of an Australian delegation to China this week led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The development came as tensions continue to rise on the Korean peninsula, with South Korean President Park Geun-hye vowing "a strong response" to any provocation from the north. Her remarks followed the young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's weekend declaration that his country was entering "a state of war" with its wealthy, democratic neighbour South Korea. North Korea has also issued multiple military threats to the United States. And on Sunday, President Kim declared the nation's nuclear weapons a "treasure" that it would not abandon. As North Korea's only real ally, China is considered the only country with any influence over the intractable and reclusive regime. Senator Carr's spokesman said yesterday that the UN sanctions would be more effective if there were tighter implementation on ships and planes gong to to North Korea, including from China. "That's something we'll be talking about when we're in China," he said. It is not suggested China is breaching the sanctions - China voted for them in the Security Council, but China is the principal conduit for supplies to North Korea. We're going to emphasise the importance of taking action on North Korea but we appreciate you have to approach that in a manner that recognises their relationship - rather than just bursting in and telling them our view of the world. Senator Carr has also said in recent days that Australia is considering its own additional sanctions, on top of the existing UN measures, that would target banking and finance for the North Korean elite. New sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council last month in response to North Korea's February nuclear test included tougher financial restrictions and bans on items such as yachts, luxury cars, and some types of jewellery and perfumes. However such items are reported to still be flowing into the country, as are goods that could be used in the regime's weapons industries. The US sent F-22 stealth fighters to South Korea on Sunday as part of military exercises. Experts are divided on how seriously North Korea's latest outbursts should be taken. Andrei Lankov, a Korea expert at Kookmin University in the South Korean capital Seoul, said the latest behaviour followed a familiar pattern. They do it once every two or three years. It's how things have been done in Pyongyang for decades. They have not the slightest intention to carry it out because they are not suicidal. But Leonid Petrov, a Korea scholar at the University of Sydney said "this time it's much more serious." North Korea had made considerable strides in developing nuclear weapons and the rockets to deliver them, he said. "It means destabilisation in the region is going to continue," he said. Ms Gillard will lead the five-day visit to China starting on Friday. She will meet China's new President Xi Jingping and Premier Li Keqiang and discuss issues ranging from trade to security and climate change.