Bangkok: The United States has asked south-east Asia nations to target clandestine North Korean operations in the region and to share more intelligence on the outlaw nation with Washington.
US officials say US intelligence gathering has identified North Korean front companies in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar, where North Korean operatives hold secret meetings and do business to generate much needed foreign currency.
![US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, is greeted by Malaysian Air Force officials at a military base in Subang.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170810200016im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/s/d/k/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxsdml.png/1502283949779.jpg)
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Thailand and Malaysia to dismantle North Korea's commercial operations and detain the country's operatives during pit-stop visits to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Susan Thornton, US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters North Korean companies are using Bangkok as a regional hub and they change their names frequently.
Malaysia's decades-old ties with North Korea burst into the international spotlight in January when suspected North Korean spies assassinated Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Malaysian authorities responded to the killing by shutting down two North Korean businesses, including Glocom, which police confirmed was being used by a North Korean intelligence agency to traffic arms.
Malaysian police are also investigating allegations that North Korea has been violating international sanctions through Malaysian businesses.
But the US has asked Malaysia's government to do more.
![US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, talks with Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai at the Foreign Ministry in ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170810200016im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/s/d/o/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxsdml.png/1502283949779.jpg)
There are an estimated 1000 North Koreans working Malaysia.
Mr Tillerson's visit to Thailand and Malaysia came only days after the United Nations Security Council passed its toughest sanctions yet against Pyongyang over the country's ballistic missile and nuclear program.
![US State Secretary Rex Tillerson, left, is greeted by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano in Manila.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170810200016im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/s/d/l/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxsdml.png/1502283949779.jpg)
The US has also pressured Myanmar, a long-time military partner with Pyongyang, to join the global push to rein in Kim Jong-un's programs.
Before elections swept Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party into power in 2015 Myanmar's military-dominated regime was believed to be one of the top purchasers of North Korean arms and weapons technology.
North Korea, which has been diplomatically isolated by many countries, maintains embassies in eight south-east Asia nations, including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations last weekend issued a statement expressing "grave concerns" about North Korea's behaviour and said it supported "irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsular."
North Korean workers sent abroad are paid directly by North Korean officials and their movements are monitored and restricted.
The most visible of the country's businesses in Asia is the Okryu restaurant chain selling North Korean food in more than 100 outlets across Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, China and the Middle East.