U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (second from left in the background and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (right) walk away from a press conference with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and Canadian Minister of Defense Harjit Sajjan after the U.S.-Canada 2+2 Ministerial at the State Department, Dec. 14, held in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap

Top officials of the United States and Canada discussed the issue of North Korea's sanctions evasion Friday amid the ongoing efforts to denuclearize the regime.

The matter was brought up in the 2+2 talks involving U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan.

"We took the opportunity to reiterate our support for the United States efforts towards a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and our efforts in the area of sanctions evasion," Freeland told a press conference at the State Department after the talks.

"In an ever-changing global landscape, it's important that countries are able to nimbly respond to flagrant violations of the international order. An effective and targeted sanctions regime is key to this," she added.

North Korea is under tough United Nations and other countries' sanctions for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Among other things, the North can only import 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum annually; but it North has reportedly evaded this by conducting banned ship-to-ship transfers at sea.

In the latest report pointing to such activity, NBC News said Friday that a top secret U.S. military assessment has found continued illegal transfers of oil to the North, and an adjustment of the regime's tactics to escape surveillance by an eight-nation coalition led by the U.S.

The other members are Canada, South Korea, Australia, Britain, France, Japan and New Zealand.

Pompeo said it was "great" to talk with the Canadians about close cooperation on North Korea.

"I thank my Canadian counterparts for enforcing all of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and encouraging other countries to maintain pressure as well," he said. (Yonhap)