Missile launch sign of frustration: PM
THE European Union has strengthened its punitive measures against North Korea by bringing its regulations in line with sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council in August.
The move announced by EU headquarters yesterday morning follows the Security Council resolution on August 5, which banned North Korea from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood products estimated to be worth over $ US1 billion ($ 1.2 billion).
The 28- member bloc said it was adding nine individuals and four organisations to the blacklist, including the North Korean state- owned Foreign Trade Bank.
There are now 103 individuals and 57 organisations on the EU list.
The aim is to pressure the regime of Kim Jong- un and deprive it of hard currencies needed to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The UN resolution also bans countries from giving additional work permits to North Korean labourers, another source of money for Pyongyang.
A few hundred North Koreans now work in the EU, many of them in Poland.
It came as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed the need to increase pressure on North Korea in talks with UK Prime Minister Theresa May in London where the Iran nuclear deal was also raised.
The two discussed North Korea’s “destabilising activities” and the importance of the international community coming together “to put pressure on the regime,” Ms May’s spokesman said.
Mr Tillerson is also scheduled to meet his British counterpart and a French foreign ministry official in London later on Thursday.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson reiterated Britain’s commitment to tackle “the aggressive and illegal actions of the North Korean regime”. NORTH Korea fired an intermediate- range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean yesterday, its longestsuch flight and a clear message of defiance to its rivals.
Since US President Donald Trump threatened the North with “fire and fury” in August, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over US ally Japan.
It tested its first intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
Earlier this week, the UN Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea after it carried out its sixth and strongest nuclear test on September 3.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday’s launch, along with “violent outbursts of North Korean propaganda threatening Japan and the US overnight,” were signs “the sanctions are working.” He called for greater global action to deter North Korea, noting China had the greatest economic leverage over Pyongyang.
The possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong- un starting a war would be a “catastrophe”, he said.
“He would be signing a suicide note. That would be the end for his government, and thousands and thousands of people would die.”
The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target both US troops in Asia and the US homeland. This, in turn, is meant to allow North Korea greater military freedom in the region by raising doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a US city to protect its Asian allies.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled about 3700km at a maximum height of 770km. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the UN sanctions and said the North would “redouble its efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country’s sovereignty.”
North Korea has repeatedly vowed to continue these tests amid what it calls US hostility – by which it means the presence of thousands of US troops in Japan and South Korea.
The missile, which Seoul said was the 19th ballistic missile launched by North Korea this year, triggered sirens and warning messages in northern Japan but caused no apparent damage to aircraft or ships.
It was the second missile fired over Japan in less than a month. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.