Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.N. council OKs more N. Korea sanctions
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Friday that significantly choke off new fuel supplies and order North Koreans working overseas to return home within two years, in yet another effort to pressure the rogue nation to reverse course on its nuclear program.
The sanctions, adopted by a vote of 15-0, were the third imposed this year in hopes of forcing the North into negotiations. China and Russia joined in the resolution, though American officials have charged that in recent months the Russians have secretly been opening new links to the North, including new Internet connections that give the country an alternative to communicating primarily through China.
Under the new sanctions, oil exports will be limited to their current level, which has already begun to result in shortages around the country. Countries around the world will be ordered to expel North Korean workers, a key source of hard currency. Nations would also be urged to inspect all North Korean shipping and halt ship-to-ship transfers of fuel, which the North has used to evade sanctions.
But the resolution does not permit countries to hail and board North Korean ships in international waters, which U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration proposed earlier this year. That would be the most draconian measure, because it would enable the U.S. Navy and its Pacific allies to create a cordon around the country, though Pentagon officials say it would also carry a high risk of triggering a firefight between North Korea and foreign navies.
The vote came just four days after the United States accused the North of being responsible for the “Wannacry” cyberattack that crippled computers around the world in May, and weeks after the country launched a new intercontinental missile that appears capable of reaching any U.S. city. But the White House Homeland Security adviser, Thomas Bossert, acknowledged Tuesday that the United States was running out of sanctions options.
“President Trump has used just about every lever you can use, short of starving the people of North Korea to death, to change their behavior,” Bossert said. “And so we don’t have a lot of room left here to apply pressure to change their behavior.”
In fact, the public CIA assessment is that no amount of economic sanctions will force the North to give up its nuclear program.
The United States, which has led the sanctions effort at the Security Council, drafted the latest round of sanctions in consultation with other members, including China, which historically has been reticent to impose them. The deadline for the return of North Korean workers was changed to 24 months from 12 months, partly in response to Chinese and Russian concerns.
It was a striking display of unity, only a day after most members of the U.N. General Assembly condemned the new American stance on Jerusalem.
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador, thanked the other Security Council members — especially China — for coming together on the resolution and said further North Korean defiance would “invite further punishment and isolation.”
Haley called North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test last month “another attempt by the Kim regime to masquerade as a great power while their people starve and their soldiers defect.” She was referring to Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador, said the ability of all council members to come together on the North Korea issue showed they are “seeing the bigger interests we all have.”
Rycroft said the new measures “tighten the grip and make it even harder for the regime to fund the illegal programs, and at the same time ensure we don’t make life harder for the poor people of North Korea.”
The assent of China and Russia to the tightened measures appeared to reflect the growing impatience with North Korea by the world’s most powerful nations, regardless of their politics.
Experts on North Korea said the new measures had the potential to dissuade Kim from further escalating the tensions with more tests but were cautious about predicting his behavior.
“If the international community, including countries like China and Russia, implements these measures fully, faithfully and quickly, it will apply an unprecedented and irresistible level of pressure on the North Korean regime,” said Evans J.R. Revere, a former senior State Department diplomat for East Asia.
If that happens, he said, it would force North Korea “to make a choice between continued defiance of the international community on the one hand and a return to the negotiating table on the other.”
The tightened measures approved Friday included a restriction that would cut the supply of North Korea’s imports of refined petroleum by roughly 90 percent. The would also place limits on crude oil deliveries and give other countries enhanced powers to stop North Korea-bound ships suspected of carrying contraband.