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The UN Security Council will vote Saturday on a US-drafted resolution toughening sanctions on Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK), diplomats said Friday, a proposed ban on certain exports that could deprive Pyongyang of $1 billion in annual revenue.
The Security Council was scheduled to vote at 3 pm (1900 GMT) Saturday on the new raft of sanctions, diplomats confirmed.
The draft resolution calls for a ban on all exports of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, as well as fish and seafood by the cash-starved state, according to the text seen by AFP.
If implemented by all countries, the ban would strip Pyongyang of roughly a third of its export earnings estimated at $3 billion per year, according to a diplomat familiar with the negotiations.
The diplomat, who briefed reporters on the content of the draft, said he had "high confidence" that China and Russia would support the proposed sanctions.
Backed by its European allies, Japan and South Korea, the United States has been leading the push at the United Nations for tougher sanctions in response to DPRK's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4.
A second test on July 28 further raised alarm about Pyongyang's drive to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland.
The draft text would also prevent DPRK from increasing the number of workers it sends abroad, prohibit all new joint ventures and ban new investment in the current joint companies.
DPRK is blamed for a "massive diversion of its scarce resources" toward the development of "nuclear weapons and a number of expensive ballistic missile programs," the draft resolution said.
The new raft of measures would be the seventh set of UN sanctions imposed on DPRK since it first carried out a nuclear test in 2006, but these have failed to compel Pyongyang to change its behavior.
Two resolutions adopted last year however have introduced economic sanctions with more bite.
No ban on oil
The proposed resolution would add DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank, the primary foreign exchange bank, to a UN sanctions blacklist, which provides for an assets freeze.
It would also tighten trade restrictions on technology to prevent DPRK from acquiring items that could be used for its military programs.
Under the proposed measure, DPRK vessels caught violating UN resolutions would be banned from entering ports in all countries.
The draft resolution however does not provide for cuts to oil deliveries to DPRK -- a move that would have dealt a serious blow to the economy.
The United States and its allies have argued that tougher sanctions are needed to force DPRK to come to the negotiating table to discuss a halt to its military programs.
As negotiations at the United Nations entered the final stretch, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared that Washington was not seeking regime change in DPRK and was willing to talk to Pyongyang.
(AFP)
