UN Security Council puts new sanctions on North Korea
23 Dec 2017 5:12 PM GMT
United Nations: With China's backing, the UN Security Council today slapped new sanctions on North Korea that will restrict oil supplies vital for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programmes.
The council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution that also orders the repatriation of North Korean workers abroad and earning revenue for Kim Jong-Un's regime.
It is the third raft of sanctions imposed on North Korea this year and comes as the United States and North Korea are showing no signs they are willing to engage in talks to end the crisis on the Korean peninsula. The resolution bans the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to North Korea, puts a cap on crude deliveries and orders the repatriation of all North Korean nationals working abroad by the end of 2019. 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.
President Donald Trump has threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if it attacks the United States while North Korea insists the world must now accept that it is a nuclear power.
Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping last month to cut off oil to North Korea, a move that would cripple its desperately struggling economy.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have been sent to Russia and China to earn revenue for Pyongyang, working in what UN rights officials have described as "slave-like conditions." 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. That will reduce the flow of fuel from a previous ceiling set by the council of two million barrels a year.
Donald Trump on Friday hailed the adoption of new sanctions targeting North Korea over its nuclear program, saying the international community was pushing for peace with the isolated regime.
"The UN Security Council just voted 15-0 in favor of additional Sanctions on North Korea. The World wants Peace, not Death!" Trump tweeted. The resolution drew criticism from Russia for the time the 13 other council nations had to consider the text, and last-minute changes to the text.
Next Story
