Tough UN sanctions forced on North Korea over missile tests

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has been targeted The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions on North Korea last night in response to the rogue nation’s recent ballistic missile tests.

The new sanctions approved in the council resolution include sharply cutting limits on North Korea’s imports of refined oil, forcing all North Koreans working overseas to return home within 12 months and cracking down on shipping to and from the country.

The resolution does not include even harsher sanctions sought by the Donald Trump administration.

Mr Trump wanted further restrictions such as prohibiting all oil imports and freezing the international assets of Northkorea’sgovernmentand its leader Kim Jong Un. The Us-drafted resolution voted through last night includes measures to drastically reduce the nation’s petrol imports by up to 90 per cent.

China – North Korea’s main trading partner – voted in favour of the resolution.

North Korea is already subject to a raft of sanctions from the US, the UN and the EU.

The sanctions were the Security Council’s response to North Korea’s test on 29 November of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile yet.

Mr Jong Un’s government said it was capable of hitting anywhere on the US mainland with the medium-range missile. It was North Korea’s 20th launch of a ballistic missile this year and added to fears the North would soon have a nuclear arsenal that could viably target the US mainland.