With China's backing, the United Nations (UN) Security
Council on Friday slapped new sanctions on North Korea that will
restrict oil supplies vital for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear
programmes.
The council unanimously adopted a United
States (US)-drafted resolution that also orders the repatriation of
North Korean workers sent abroad to earn revenue for Kim Jong-Un's
regime.
US President Donald Trump on Friday hailed the
move, saying the international community was pushing for peace with the
isolated regime.
“The United Nations Security Council
just voted 15-0 in favour of additional Sanctions on North Korea. The
World wants Peace, not Death!” he tweeted.
It is the third raft of sanctions imposed on Pyongyang
this year and comes as the US and North Korea show no signs that they
are willing to open talks on ending the crisis on the Korean peninsula.
The
resolution bans the supply of nearly 75 per cent of refined oil
products to North Korea, puts a cap on crude deliveries and orders all
North Korean nationals working abroad to be sent back by the end of
2019.
The US put forward the draft text on Thursday following negotiations with China, Pyongyang's ally and main supplier of oil.
Describing
North Korea as “the most tragic example of evil in the modern world,”
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the new sanctions are “a reflection of
the international outrage at the Kim regime's actions.”
The
resolution “sends the unambiguous message to Pyongyang that further
defiance will invite further punishment and isolation,” she said.
The measures are in response to North Korea's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on November 28 that marked an advance in Pyongyang's drive to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike.
Trump has threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacks the US while North Korea insists the world must now accept that it is a nuclear power.
Last
month, Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to cut off oil to the
North, a move that would cripple its struggling economy.
Crude
oil supplies were capped at four million barrels per year and a ceiling
of 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum products, including diesel and
kerosene, was set for next year, down from two million barrels in a
previous resolution.
If North Korea carries out another
nuclear or ICBM test, “then the Security Council will take action to
restrict further the export to the DPRK of petroleum,” said the
resolution.
The US had initially sought to expel within a
year tens of thousands of North Koreans, most of whom are working in
Russia and China, but that deadline was extended to two years after
Russia objected.
To prevent North Korea from
circumventing sanctions, all countries were authorised to seize, inspect
and impound ships suspected of carrying illegal cargo to and from North
Korea.
Sanctions only a means
The measure bans sales of all industrial machinery, trucks,
iron, steel and other metals to North Korea and bars exports of food,
machinery, electrical equipment, earth, stone, wood and vessels produced
in the reclusive state.
Addressing the council, China
and Russia condemned North Korea's behaviour but made the case for
[urgently opening diplomatic channels][1 to ease tensions and move towards settling the crisis.
“Sanctions
are only a means,” said Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao. “One
should not expect to settle the problems through unilateral sanctions or
pressure."
"We all must, we are all duty-bound, to
provide opportunities for diplomacy to function,” said Russian Deputy
Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov.
A total of 15 North
Korean officials, most of whom work in banking, were added to the UN
sanctions blacklist along with the ministry of the people's armed
forces, which manages army logistics for the country.
An
earlier list contained 19 names, later reduced to 16, but a final
version listed 15 North Koreans, who will be subjected to a global visa
ban and assets freeze.
Since September last year, North
Korea has carried out its sixth and largest nuclear test and a series of
advanced missile launches which are banned under UN resolutions.
The
US has led the drive at the Security Council to tighten sanctions aimed
at piling pressure on Kim's regime to come to the negotiating table.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre welcomed the new measures, saying “this resolution bites.”
“Maximum firmness today is our best antidote to the risk of war,” he said.
The European Union said in a statement that it too is planning to adopt tougher sanctions against North Korea early next year.
