Pyongyang slapped with new sanctions
NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea, slapping a ban on textile exports and restricting shipments of oil products to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.
With backing from China and Russia, the council adopted a United States-drafted sanctions resolution just one month after banning exports of coal, lead and seafood in response to North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the tough new measures were a message to Pyongyang that “the world will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea”, but she also held out the prospect of a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
“We are not looking for war. The North Korean regime has not yet passed the point of no return,” Haley told the council.
“If it agrees to stop its nuclear programme, it can reclaim its future. If it proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it.
The South Korean government welcomed the resolution, calling it a “grave warning that (North Korea’s) continued provocations will only intensify its diplomatic isolation and economic pressure.”
During tough negotiations, the US dropped initial demands for a full oil embargo and a freeze on the foreign assets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to win support from China and Russia.
It was the eighth series of sanctions imposed on North Korea since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
A US official familiar with the negotiations said the ban on textile exports would deprive North Korea of US$726 million (RM3 billion) in annual revenue.
In a UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, North Korea rejected the sanctions resolution and said the US would soon face the “greatest pain” it had ever experienced.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is “ready to use a form of ultimate means”, Pyongyang’s ambassador, Han Taesong, said without elaborating. AFP