UN Security Council steps up sanctions on North Korea
United Nations - The United Nations
Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North
Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful
nuclear test conducted on September 3, imposing a ban on the
country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil.
It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by
the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea's ballistic
missile and nuclear programmes. A tougher initial US draft was
weakened to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia.
"We don't take pleasure in further strengthening sanctions
today. We are not looking for war," US Ambassador to the
United Nations Nikki Haley told the council after the vote. "The
North Korean regime has not yet passed the point of no return."
"If it agrees to stop its nuclear programme, it can reclaim
its future ... if North Korea continues its dangerous path, we
will continue with further pressure," said Haley, who credited a
"strong relationship" between President Donald Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping for the successful resolution negotiations.
A week ago Haley called for the "strongest possible"
sanctions, but after several days of negotiations, Washington
dropped several measures to win the support of Russia and China,
including a bid for an oil embargo and the blacklisting of North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the national airline.
Russia had condemned the idea of tightening sanctions on
North Korea without any political push to resolve the crisis.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Security
Council on Monday that Moscow supported the resolution because
"leaving nuclear tests without a firm reaction would be wrong."
He again raised the Chinese and Russian proposal of a dual
suspension of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile
testing along with US and South Korean military exercises in a
bid to kick-start talks. Haley has dismissed it as insulting.
"We think it's a big mistake to underestimate this Russia,
China initiative," Nebenzia said. "It remains on the table at
the Security Council and we will insist on it being considered."
There was new political language in the resolution urging
"further work to reduce tensions so as to advance the prospects
for a comprehensive settlement."
Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York. Picture: Li Muzi/Xinhua
China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, called for a resumption
of negotiations "sooner rather than later." He called on North
Korea to "take seriously" the will of the international
community to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile development.
Pyongyang warned the United States on Monday that it would
pay a "due price" for spearheading efforts on UN sanctions.
"The world will witness how (North Korea) tames the US gangsters by taking a series of actions tougher than they have
ever envisaged," the foreign ministry said in a statement
carried by the official KCNA news agency.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after the council
vote that it was important to change North Korea's policy by
imposing a higher level of pressure on the country than ever
before.
In negotiations on the latest resolution, diplomats said
Russia had questioned what leverage the Security Council would
have left if North Korea continued to conduct nuclear and
missile testing.
"This is a compromise in order to get everybody on board,"
French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said of the draft ahead
of the vote.
North Korea is now banned from exporting textiles - its
second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016,
totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea
Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent went to
China.
The resolution imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas
liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum
products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at
current levels. China supplies most of North Korea's crude.
A U.S. official, familiar with the council negotiations and
speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imported
some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually
and 4 million barrels of crude oil.
Chinese officials have privately expressed fears that an oil
embargo could risk causing massive instability in its neighbour.
Russia and China have also expressed concern about the
humanitarian impact of strengthening sanctions on North Korea.
Haley said the resolution aimed to hit "North Korea's
ability to fuel and fund its weapons program." Trump has vowed
not to allow North Korea to develop a nuclear missile capable of
hitting the mainland United States.
"This resolution also puts an end to the regime making money
from the 93,000 North Korean citizens it sends overseas to work
and heavily taxes. This ban will eventually starve the regime of
an additional $500 million or more in annual revenues," Haley
said.
The resolution also calls on states to inspect vessels on
the high seas, with consent of the flag state, if they have
reasonable grounds to believe the ships are carrying prohibited
cargo.
Traditionally, the United States has discreetly negotiated
with China on any North Korea sanctions before expanding talks
to the full council once the five veto powers have agreed. More
recently this has typically taken one to three months.
But after the latest nuclear test, Haley took a more public
approach, announcing a week ago that she would circulate a draft
resolution to all council members and that she intended to call
for a vote on Sept. 11.
"We wanted those who would be inclined to water down the
text to own that position," said the U.S. official.
North Korea was condemned globally for its latest nuclear
test on Sept. 3, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb.
The tensions have weighed on global markets, but there was
some relief on Monday among investors that North Korea refrained
from conducting another missile test this past weekend to
celebrate 69 years since its founding.