United Nations slaps North Korea with toughest-ever sanctions to deter nuclear testing

The United Nations Security Council has approved new sanctions against North Korea aimed at cutting off funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Today a resolution for further sanctions was passed unanimously by the Security Council’s 15 members.

The draft sanctions resolution places an annual cap of 7.5 million tons, or about $400 million, on the North’s coal exports.

While opposed to North Korean nuclear testing, China has criticised South Korea and the United States for strengthening their military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

“The DPRK must reverse its course and move onto the path of denuclearization through honest dialogue”, said Ban, while calling on the worldwide community to improve living conditions of the people of the DPRK.

The original sanctions – which the United States at the time hailed as “comprehensive” – had sought to limit coal exports, unless it was for what the measure called “livelihood” reasons. China is the only buyer of its coal, according to U.S. officials. But China alone continues to buy coal from the North, taking advantage of a clause exempting materials exported “exclusively for livelihood purposes”.

Under the US -led resolution, which was voted for by all 15 nations represented on the council, Pyongyang will be limited to annual coal exports of 7.5 million tons, a more than 60 percent reduction from its sales in 2015. United Nations members would be urged to admit fewer North Korean diplomats and to allow them just one bank account each.

“The United States is realistic about what this resolution will achieve”.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the move, saying the Security Council had “taken strong action on one of the most enduring and pressing peace and security challenges of our time”. But he warned that the passage alone would be insufficient.

Beijing could come under more pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and his more hawkish national security team to pile more pressure on North Korea because no country has the leverage China has. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. He went on to say that “he really does have missiles, and he really does have nukes”.

He said North Korea is unlikely to react strongly to the resolution as it has in the past because of the current political climate.

U.S. officials have warned for months that the North’s nuclear capabilities have increased sharply. China will need to be brought in as a bigger part of the solution, and the global community might well have to consider the first direct talks with North Korea since six-party talks collapsed in 2009, says Jim Walsh, an expert on North Korea’s nuclear program.

But some experts are skeptical sanctions Resolution 2321 is enough to alter Pyongyang’s ability to proliferate weapons of mass destruction, Yonhap reported.

At the Radisson Blu Hotel on Tuesday, South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Ambassador Nuh Kyu-duk called on the government of Sierra Leone to help ensure stiffer measures against North Korea in their use of nuclear weapons.

“The U.S. has imposed sanctions on many countries in the world, but wielding sticks without any carrots mostly amounts to nothing”.

Chinese coal imports from the North have surged in recent months, raising concerns that the deals are generating revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. It was Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test, which followed the previous one by eight months.