U.N. imposes new sanctions on DPRK
on Wednesday aimed at cutting the Asian country's annual export revenue by a quarter in response to Pyongyang's fifth and largest nuclear test in September.
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The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution to slash North Korea's biggest export, coal, by about 60 percent with an annual sales cap of $400.9 million or 7.5 million metric tonnes, whichever is lower.
The U.S.-drafted resolution also bans copper, nickel, silver and zinc exports and the sale of statues by Pyongyang.
The United States was realistic about what the new sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) - will achieve, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told the council after the vote.
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| At the United Nations on Wednesday, the Security Council voted to further tighten sanctions against North Korea in response to its fifth and largest nuclear test yet. (Photo: AP) |
"No resolution in New York will likely, tomorrow, persuade Pyongyang to cease its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons. But this resolution imposes unprecedented costs on the DPRK regime for defying this Council's demands," she said.
"In total, this resolution will slash by at least $800 million per year the hard currency that the DPRK has to fund its prohibited weapons programs, which constitutes a full 25 percent of the DPRK's entire export revenues," Power said.
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. It conducted its latest nuclear test on Sept. 9.
"Sanctions are only as effective as their implementation," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council. "It is incumbent on all member states of the United Nations to make every effort to ensure that these sanctions are fully implemented."
The U.N. resolution blacklisted 11 more individuals, including former ambassadors to Egypt and Myanmar, and 10 entities, subjecting them to a global travel ban and asset freeze for ties to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
