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U.S. pushes for new UN resolution to pressure N. Korea

Posted September. 08, 2017 07:49,   

Updated September. 08, 2017 08:52

한국어

The U.S. is pushing to put an unprecedented level of pressure to Pyongyang by adopting a new UN Security Council Resolution, which will completely contain and stifle North Korea in a short span of time. The new UN Resolution will enable its member states to use military power when clamping down on North Korean ships in international waters. For the first time ever, Kim Jong Un, the First Chairman of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, has been listed as sanction target, and all other options to pressure the North have been included in the new Resolution such as a ban of the exports of crude oil and petroleum to North Korea and a blanket ban of overseas transportation of workers.

On Wednesday, the United States Mission to the UN made an unusual disclosure of the draft of the resolution to the public to pressure China and Russia, the biggest hurdles to passing the draft. According to the Foreign Policy and AFP, the U.S. has already passed around the draft to 14 member states of the UN Security Council for perusal.

The most outstanding clause in the draft is the one that allows the members of the Security Council to “mobilize all necessary means available” to stop and search North Korean ships when they are deemed to have violated UN sanctions.

While it falls short of the military sanctions stated in UN Charter 42, the new Resolution seeks to allow the use of military power so as to guarantee the effectiveness of "non-military sanctions" stipulated in Charter 41. The new sanction is expected to cause strong opposition from Pyongyang as it can be interpreted to allow shooting in the event North Korean flagged merchant ships refuse to be searched.

The new Resolution lists Kim Jong Un as a sanction target, prohibiting him from traveling abroad and freezing his hidden assets in overseas countries. While Kim was included in the list of an independent sanction led by the U.S. in July last year in charge of human rights violations, this is the first that the North Korean leader has been specifically designated as a target of North Korean sanctions. The list of sanction targets also includes four other high-ranking North Korean officials such as Hwang Pyong So, the first deputy director of the Workers’ Party of North Korea.

The Resolution contains almost all other sanction measures, which had not been implemented due to the opposition from China and Russia, such as a ban on imports of crude oil and petroleum to the North, a ban on overseas transportation of workers, and a ban on imports of textile and clothes to the regime. The intention of the additional measures is to shut down all the channels for North Korea to earn foreign currencies altogether.



Sung-Ha Joo zsh75@donga.com · Jeong-Hun Park sunshade@donga.com