简体中文
The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously imposed new sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), slapping a ban on textile exports and restricting shipments of oil products to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.
The Security Council is set to vote Monday on the US-led effort to impose harsher new sanctions against DPRK, which has defied multiple measures to rein in its weapons program
The council voted 15-0 to back the US-drafted sanctions resolution just one month after banning exports of coal, lead and seafood in response to DPRK's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The resolution capped tough negotiations during which the United States dropped initial demands for a full oil embargo and a freeze on the foreign assets of DPRK leader Kim Jong-Un.
The resolution bans textile exports, cuts off natural gas shipments to DPRK, places a ceiling on deliveries of refined oil products and caps crude oil shipments at their current level.
It bars countries from issuing new work permits to DPRK's laborers sent abroad and seeks to phase out the practice by asking countries to report on the date for ending existing contracts.
Some 93,000 DPRK people work abroad, providing dprk with a source of revenue to develop its missile and nuclear programs, according to a US official familiar with the negotiations.
Under the measure, countries are authorized to inspect ships suspected of carrying banned DPRK cargo but must first seek the consent of the flag-state.
An initial draft authorized the use of force to board those vessels, but that was dropped in negotiations over the weekend.
The United States and its allies argue that tougher sanctions will pile pressure on DPRK to come to the negotiation table to discuss an end to its nuclear and missile tests.
It was the eighth series of sanctions imposed on DPRK since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
Cut in oil products
The resolution limits deliveries of refined oil products to 500,000 barrels for three months from October 1 and to two million barrels from January 1 for a period of 12 months.
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un claps during a celebration for nuclear scientists and engineers who contributed to a hydrogen bomb test, in this undated photo released by DPRK's KCNA in Pyongyang on September 10, 2017.
That would amount to a 10 percent cut in oil products, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which estimates annual exports to DPRK at nearly 2.2 million barrels.
The US official said the ban on textile exports would deprive DPRK of some $726 million in annual revenue.
The resolution expressed support for dialogue and highlights the need to "ensure lasting stability in northeast Asia" and "to resolve the situation through peaceful, diplomatic and political means."
Washington has said military action remains an option in dealing with DPRK and threatened to cut economic ties with countries that continue to trade with the it.
'Pay the price'
Early Monday, DPRK said it would not accept any chastisement over its nuclear and missile program, which it says is vital to stave off the threat of an American invasion.
If Washington does "rig up the illegal and unlawful 'resolution' on harsher sanctions, the DPRK shall make absolutely sure that the US pays due price," its foreign ministry said, in a statement published by the official KCNA news agency.
"The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history."
Pyongyang has staged a series of missile tests in recent months, culminating in an intercontinental ballistic missile that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range.
It followed up with a sixth nuclear test on September 3, its largest to date, which DPRK said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.
(AFP)
