U.S. seeks U.N. consent to stop North Korean ships

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would effectively empower the U.S. Navy and Air Force to interdict North Korean ships at sea, inspect them to determine whether they are carrying weapons material or fuel into the country, and use “all necessary measures” to enforce compliance.

The language is included in a remarkably broad draft that would ban the shipment of all crude oil, refined petroleum and natural gas to North Korea, essentially seeking to plunge a country of 25 million people into a deep freeze this winter if its leaders fail to begin giving up their nuclear weapon and missile programs.

The resolution — circulated three days after the North conducted its largest nuclear test to date — would also seek to block all the assets of Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader, and virtually all the assets of the country’s military and its sole political party.

The resolution, which the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this week she wanted to bring to a vote by next Monday, seems certain to meet vociferous objections from China and Russia. Both hold veto power at the Security Council.

But if the sections authorizing interdictions at sea survive, it could set the stage for some of the tensest encounters on the high seas since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when President John F. Kennedy ordered a complete blockade around the island to prevent Soviet missiles from being installed.

The resolution calls for something far less comprehensive than a total blockade, which is widely considered an act of war. But it would authorize a committee of the Security Council to “designate vessels for nonconsensual inspections” and authorize all members of the United Nations — using military vessels and aircraft — “to inspect on the high seas any vessel designated by the committee.”

That could set up the conditions for a conflict at sea. If the crew of a North Korean ship failed to stop or resisted a boarding party, one senior military official acknowledged in recent days, the result could be an exchange of fire at a time when Pyongyang is threatening to use its nascent nuclear arsenal, and the United States is warning of a “devastating response.”

President Donald Trump spoke with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, from the White House on Wednesday morning, just hours before the United States sent its draft of the resolution to all 15 members of the Security Council.

Both Xi and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, have opposed further sanctions, even after North Korea tested what it called a hydrogen bomb — experts have their doubts — on Sunday. “We should not act out of emotions and push North Korea into a dead end,” Putin said at a meeting in Vladivostok, according to dispatches from South Korean reporters. “We must act with calm and avoid steps that could raise tensions.”

That sets up a confrontation at the Security Council pitting the United States, Britain and France against the other two permanent members. Trump appears to be using the resolution to highlight the contrast between the nations that support maximum sanctions pressure against the North and those seeking the status quo.

The Trump administration on Wednesday repeated a drastic — if highly unlikely — warning if U.N. action is blocked. The Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, told reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from North Dakota that an executive order had been prepared that would authorize a halt in trade with “anybody that does trade with North Korea.” China is among dozens of nations that trade with the North.