New UN sanctions hit tyrant

THE UN Security Council has unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea but they fell short of the measures sought by the Trump administration to ban all oil imports and freeze international assets of the government and its leader, Kim Jong Un.

The resolution, responding to Pyongyang’s sixth and strongest nuclear test explosion on September 3, does ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates.

It also bans all textile exports and prohibits any country from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency for the northeast Asian nation.

As for energy, it caps Pyongyang’s imports of crude oil at the level of the last 12 months, and it limits the import of refined petroleum products to 2 million barrels a year.

The watered-down resolution does not include sanctions that the US wanted on North Korea’s national airline and the army.

Nonetheless, US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote that “these are by far the strongest measures ever imposed on North Korea.”

But she stressed that “these steps only work if all nations implement them completely and aggressively.”

Ms Haley noted that the council was meeting on the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

In a clear message to North Korean threats to attack the US, she said: “We will never forget the lesson that those who have evil intentions must be confronted.”

The final agreement was reached after negotiations between the US and China, the North’s ally and major trading partner. Haley said the resolution never would have happened without the “strong relationship” between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.