The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a new resolution early Wednesday morning, officials said Tuesday, raising the possibility of a unanimous adoption of strengthened sanctions against North Korea.
The vote will be held at 5 a.m. Korean time and all 15 members of the council are expected to endorse the resolution, according to an official from the South Korean mission to the U.N.
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| In this Oct. 10, 2015, photo, missiles are paraded in Pyongyang, North Korea during the 70th anniversary celebrations of its ruling party`s creation. (AP-Yonhap) |
The U.S. presented the draft measures to the council on Thursday last week after reaching an agreement with China.
While initially anticipated to be adopted as early as Friday, the resolution hit a snag after Russia requested more time to review the text. As Russia is one of the five permanent council members with veto rights, winning its support has been crucial to imposing sanctions on North Korea.
Moscow has stressed that the sanctions should not inflict damage upon legitimate ties by foreign partners or deteriorate the humanitarian situation in the North.
North Korea sparked international furor with its Jan. 6 nuclear weapons test and Feb. 7 rocket launch, which violated previous resolutions barring it from nuclear and ballistic missile development.
President Park Geun-hye, calling the U.N. resolution “powerful and effective,” vowed Tuesday that international pressure on North Korea would continue until the North undergoes changes. She has continued taking a hard-line approach toward Pyongyang, even mentioning the collapse of the Kim Jong-un regime during a Feb. 16 speech.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said that the new sanctions will be the “strongest imposed by the Security Council in more than two decades.”
According to a draft resolution, the new sanctions include binding comprehensive arms embargo as well as inspections on all shipments passing through member state’s waters to or from North Korea to search for illicit cargo.
Transfers of any items to North Korea that could contribute to the capabilities of the country’s armed forces will be banned, and assets of any of its state or ruling party-related organizations that are involved in banned activities can be frozen.
The new measures will block all mineral exports from the North, except for “livelihood purposes” and will suggest sanctions on all supplies of jet and rocket fuel.
While the gist of the draft resolution is expected to be the same, one diplomat was quoted as saying that there had been “minor changes to the text,” although he did not elaborate.
But some experts have pointed out that the sanctions have limits in pressuring the North, given that it does not have effective limitations on cross-border trade with China. In addition, they do not require China — Pyongyang‘s biggest trading partner — to cut off oil exports or limit North Korean workers working in countries like China, Russia from sending home their earnings.
Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk University, said while the sanctions may inflict damage upon North Korea, it may not be enough to make it abandon its nuclear ambitions.
By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
