U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL OK’S NEW N. KOREA SANCTIONS

Seoul, South Korea — The United Nations Security Council on Monday agreed on its toughest-ever sanctions against North Korea that passed unanimously after the United States softened its initial demands to win support from China and Russia.

The sanctions set limits on North Korea’s oil imports and banned its textile exports in an effort to deprive the reclusive nation of the income it needs to maintain its nuclear and ballistic missile program, and increase the pressure to negotiate a way out of punishing sanctions.

“Today, we are attempting to take the future of the North Korean nuclear program out of the hands of its outlaw regime,” said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

United Nations — The U.N. Security Council on Monday unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea in a watered-down resolution that eliminated a ban on all oil imports and an international asset freeze on the government and leader Kim Jong Un that the Trump administration wanted.

The resolution does ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates. But 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.

It also bans all textile exports and prohibits countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency for the northeast Asian nation.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote that “these are by far the strongest measures ever imposed on North Korea ... but we all know these steps only work if all nations implement them completely and aggressively.”

“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 now are instead taking steps to prevent it “from doing the wrong thing.”

Haley reiterated that the United States does not want war and said “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.

The resolution represents a swift response to North Korea’s sixth and strongest nuclear test explosion Sept. 3, which it said was a hydrogen bomb, and to its escalating launches of increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles that it says can reach the United States.

The text was agreed to after final 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 for enabling the resolution’s adoption.

But its provisions are a significant climb-down from the toughest-ever sanctions that the Trump administration proposed in the initial draft resolution it circulated 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 it has this year.