Members of the United Nations Security Council vote with a show of hands on Resolution No. 2371 that will sanction North Korea for its launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles, at U.N. headquarters in New York on Aug. 5. (U.N.)
By Sohn JiAe
The 15-member United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted the new Resolution No. 2371 to sanction North Korea for its launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), in New York on Aug. 5.
The council passed the resolution in the wake of the regime’s two ICBM launches on July 4 and 28 and, this time, the sanctions include measures that can be implemented more effectively toward Pyongyang.
Resolution No. 2371 further expands and strengthens pre-existing sanctions on the regime, making them stronger than the council’s previous resolutions, such as increasing the number of individuals and entities under sanction.
The resolution prohibits the regime from “supplying, selling or transferring coal, iron and iron ore from its territory,” items that used to be allowed on a limited basis. The sanctions include a ban on all sales and transactions of lead, lead ore and seafood, too. Under this new resolution, the number of North Korean workers overseas has also been capped.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said, “The resolution represented the single largest package of economic sanctions ever leveled at the regime. The price Pyongyang will pay will be one third of its exports and hard currency.”
On Aug. 6, Cho Joon-hyuk, spokesman for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released a statement welcoming the unanimous adoption of the new Resolution No. 2371.
The spokesman stressed in the statement that, “This new resolution represents the U.N.’s determined will to never tolerate any activities in which the North will engage to further develop nuclear weapons and missiles. The regime should take the united warning from the international community seriously and should immediately stop carrying out any further provocations that could pose a threat to world peace and safety. We urge Pyongyang to return to dialog on denuclearization and peace.”
He added that, “Our government will faithfully implement the council’s resolutions, including the new Resolution No. 2371, in close cooperation with the international community, and will continue our efforts to establish permanent peace across the Korean Peninsula, as well as denuclearization across the North.”
jiae5853@korea.kr
