The United Nations Security Council unanimously has imposed new sanctions on North Korea. Yes, unanimously, which means North Korea’s allies China and Russia even voted yes. From Bloomberg:
Specifically, the new resolution cuts deliveries of products including diesel and kerosene by almost 90 percent, to the equivalent of 500,000 barrels per year starting Jan. 1. In September, the council had already demanded imports to be cut to 2 million barrels from 4.5 million barrels. The new resolution would also cap crude imports at current levels of about 4 million barrels annually.
The resolution leaves out a few tidbits according to The New York Times:
But the resolution does not permit countries to hail and board North Korean ships in international waters, which the Trump administration proposed earlier this year. That would be the most draconian measure, because it would enable the United States Navy and its Pacific allies to create a cordon around the country, though Pentagon officials say it would also carry a high risk of triggering a firefight between North Korea and foreign navies.
The move comes less than a month after the hermit kingdom launched another missile test. From The Washington Post:
“With this system, we can load the heaviest warhead and strike anywhere in the mainland United States,” North Korea’s most famous newsreader, Ri Chun Hee, said in a special live broadcast on state television. “This missile is far more technologically advanced than July’s Hwasong-14. This signifies that our rocket development process has been completed.”Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, had personally authorized the launch, Ri said, a photo of Kim at his desk and the handwritten order appearing on the screen.
The missile reached “a height of 2,796 miles and traveled 596 miles, demonstrating the potential to reach a range of 8,100 miles.” Physicist David wright said that the missile “would put any part of the U.S. comfortably within reach of a North Korean missile strike.”
Unlike the last two tests, North Korea didn’t shoot this one over Japan. Instead, it landed in the waters between North Korea and Japan “after flying on a lofted trajectory that took it deep into space before reentering the earth’s atmosphere.”
After the launch, China criticized North Korea, but asked other countries “to refrain from measures that would exacerbate tensions.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang didn’t really respond to a question about more sanctions, but promised that the country will “uphold the principles of stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
But how much more can they do? White House Homeland Security adviser Thomas Bossert said America is “running out of sanctions options.”
“President Trump has used just about every lever you can use, short of starving the people of North Korea to death, to change their behavior,” Bossert explained. “And so we don’t have a lot of room left here to apply pressure to change their behavior.”
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