ON N. KOREA
US President Donald Trump on Friday hailed the move, saying the international community was pushing for peace with the isolated regime.
“The UN Security Council just voted 15-0 in favour of additional sanctions on North Korea. The World wants Peace, not Death!” Trump tweeted.
The resolution bans the supply of nearly 75 per cent of refined oil products to North Korea, puts a cap on crude deliveries and orders all North Korean nationals working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019.
The US put forward the draft text on Thursday following negotiations with China, Pyongyang’s ally and main supplier of oil.
Describing North Korea as “the most tragic example of evil in the modern world”, US ambassador Nikki Haley said the new sanctions were “a reflection of the international outrage at the Kim regime’s actions”.
The resolution “sends the unambiguous message to Pyongyang that further defiance will invite further punishment and isolation”, she said.
The measures were in response to North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Nov 28 that marked an advance in Pyongyang’s drive to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike.
Trump had threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacked the US while North Korea insisted the world must now accept that it was a nuclear power.
Last month, Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to cut off oil to the North, a move that would cripple its struggling economy. AFP