US forced to soften Kim sanctions
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council yesterday unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea but not 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 authorising 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 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.’'
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.’'
``Today we are saying the world will never accept a nuclear armed North Korea,’' she said. ``We are done trying to prod the regime to do the right thing’' and instead are taking steps to prevent it ``from doing the wrong thing.’'
But Haley reiterated that the US does not want war. ``North Korea has not yet passed the point of no return,’' she said. If Pyongyang gives up its nuclear program and proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it, she said. The final agreement was reached after negotiations between the U.S. and China, the North’s ally and major trading partner. Haley praised the ``strong relationship’' between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping as key factors in the resolution’s adoption.
But its provisions are a significant climb-down from the toughest-ever sanctions the Trump administration proposed last Tuesday, especially on oil, where a complete ban could have crippled North Korea’s economy.
The cap on the import of petroleum products could have an impact, but North Korea will still be able to import the same amount of crude oil that is has this year.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, China supplies most of North Korea’s crude oil imports, which a US official put at 4 million barrels a year. The agency cited UN customs data showing that China reported sending 6000 barrels a day of oil products to North Korea, which it said is mostly gasoline and diesel fuel vital to the country’s agriculture, transportation and military sectors.
That would mean North Korea imports nearly 2.2 million barrels a year in petroleum products, so the 2 million barrel cap in the resolution would represent a 10 per cent cut. -AP