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The United States on Wednesday asked the United Nations to slap an oil embargo on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) and freeze the assets of leader Kim Jong-Un, setting up a potential clash with Russia and China over how to respond to Pyongyang's sixth and biggest nuclear test.
A draft Security Council resolution obtained by AFP demands not only a ban on oil and gas supplies to DPRK, but also an end to textile exports and to payments made to DPRK guest workers, cutting off revenue to DPRK.
In a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday insisted that military action against DPRK was not his "first choice" and pushed for a diplomatic option.
Before-and-after images courtesy of Planet show the Punggye-ri test site where North Korea on Sunday conducted an underground explosion
After DPRK claimed it carried out a hydrogen bomb test over the weekend, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States would be seeking a vote at the council on new sanctions on September 11.
The proposed package of measures would be the strongest yet against DPRK, which is barred under UN resolutions from developing nuclear or missile technology.
The draft resolution takes aim directly at DPRK's leadership, proposing a freeze on Kim's assets as well as those of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea and the government.
Kim would be added to a UN sanctions blacklist, subjecting him to a global travel ban, along with four other DPRK officials.
The state-owned airline, Air Koryo, would also be hit by an assets freeze along with the Korean People's Army and eight other groups linked to the government, the military and the ruling party.
Countries would be authorized to "use all necessary means" to seize and inspect DPRK cargo vessels on the UN sanctions list, according to the 13-page draft resolution. Nine DPRK ships would be added the blacklist.
The measure would also scrap all joint ventures with DPRK.
Russia balks at oil embargo
In Vladivostok, South Korean President Moon Jae-In tried with little apparent success to convince Russian Vladimir Putin to cut off Pyongyang's key supplies of fuel oil.
"In order to compel North Korea(DPRK) to come to the dialogue table, UN sanctions must be strengthened," Moon told Putin, a South Korean spokesman told the Yonhap news agency.
"Now it is inevitable to cut off oil supplies to the North, we hope Russia will cooperate as well," he continued.
The South Korean presidential spokesman quoted Putin as saying that Russia was concerned a block of fuel oil supplies would hurt civilians -- including hospitals.
Putin reportedly argued that Russia exports a negligible amount of oil to DPRK -- about 40,000 tonnes a year.
Experts say a ban on oil supplies would be devastating for ordinary DPRK people.
"People will be forced to walk or not move at all, and to push buses instead of riding in them," said a report by the Nautilus Institute think tank. "There will be less light in households due to less kerosene."
The ban will lead to more deforestation, the report said, as DPRK will be forced to cut down trees to produce charcoal, leading to "more erosion, floods and more famine" in the already impoverished country.
Kim's regime would immediately restrict supplies to private citizens, it added, and a ban would have "little or no immediate impact" on the DPRK's army or its missile and nuclear programs.
Diplomats at the United Nations in New York and, here, at disarmament talks in Geneva are battling to maintain international unity in the face of the DPRK threat
Frank call
The diplomatic push could not disguise mounting tension, underscored by China conducting air force drills to defend its east coast "against nuclear and biological weapons."
Trump spoke with Xi of China, the country seen as having the most influence on its neighbor and key to getting any sanctions regime to stick.
"I believe that President Xi agrees with me 100 percent. He doesn't want to see what's happening there, either. We had a very, very frank and very strong phone call," Trump said.
According to the White House, Trump and Xi "committed to strengthen coordination and take further action with the goal of achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
(AFP)
