‘No more time-wasting’

“WE CANNOT waste any more time. And in order to do that, we need North Korea to feel the pressure, but if they go down this road there will be consequences.” Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho told reporters ahead of the council meeting.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said France was calling for the adoption of new UN sanctions, swift implementation of existing ones and new separate sanctions by the European Union.

The council aimed to take a big bite out of the North Korean economy earlier this month by banning the North from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood products. Together those are worth about a third of the country’s $3 billion in exports last year.

The council could look to sanction other profitable North Korean exports, such as textiles. Another possibility could be tighter limits on North Korean labourers abroad; the recent sanctions barred giving any new permits for such workers. The US also suggested some other ideas earlier this summer, including air and maritime restrictions and restricting oil to North Korea’s military and weapons programmes.

However, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council Tuesday that “addressing the issues plaguing the (Korean) Peninsula through sanction pressure alone is impossible” because “that path does not propose any options for engaging (North Korea) in constructive negotiations”.