UN slaps more penalties on North

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UN slaps more penalties on North

The United Nations Security Council yesterday subjected new sanctions on North Korean officials and companies related to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Security Council also added two types of materials used in ballistic missile assembly to the trade ban list. The Security Council has never previously targeted North Korean individuals for sanctions.

The sanctions committee at the Security Council imposed a travel ban and froze the assets of five North Korean officials, four Pyongyang-based companies and one Iran-based firm. Also, the UN’s 192 member states are prohibited from supplying North Korea with graphite designed or specified for use in electrical discharge machining, and para-aramid fiber, filament and tape.

The committee’s decision is final and is effective immediately.

The 15-nation Security Council discussed the sanctions list for the past month, after it adopted Resolution 1874 on June 12 to impose financial restrictions and an arms embargo on Pyongyang following its second nuclear test on May 25. The Security Council had 30 days in which to complete the sanctions list but a source handling UN matters in Seoul said the members had exercised some flexibility.

The list required unanimity among the 15-member Security Council, which includes China, North Korea’s ally and its biggest trading partner.

The five companies named were: General Bureau of Atomic Energy, Namchongang Trading Corp., Korea Hyoksin Trading Corp., Korean Tangun Trading Corp. and Iran-based Hong Kong Electronics.

On July 1, the U.S. State and Treasury departments added Namchongang Trading Corp. and Hong Kong Electronics to its sanctions list.

The five officials were: Yun Ho-jin, director of Namchongang Trading Corp.; Ri Je-son, director of the General Bureau of Atomic Energy; Hwang Sok-hwa, chief of the bureau’s scientific guidance; Ri Hong-sop, former director of Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center; and Han Yu-ro, director of Korea Ryongaksan General Trading Corp.

The sanctions committee said it would continue working “on an expedited basis” to identify more items, materials, equipment, goods and technology subject to sanctions. It has been focusing on three areas: sensitive dual-use goods, ballistic missile-related items and nuclear-related items.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States was pleased with the list. She said, “These new designations strengthen the sanctions regime against North Korea and will serve to constrain North Korea from engaging in transactions or activities that could fund its WMD [weapons of mass destruction] or proliferation activities.”

Fazli Corman, deputy Turkey ambassador who chairs the sanctions committee, called putting individuals on the list “significant” and said, “[The sanctions] are intended to minimize any unintended humanitarian consequences on the people of [North Korea].” Japan’s ambassador, Yukio Takasu, called these sanctions “a major achievement.”

Pak Tok-hun, deputy chief of North Korea’s UN mission, blasted the sanctions as unacceptable and unfair, and said the measures will not affect his country.

“We’ve already made it clear we don’t recognize the UN Security Council resolutions,” Pak told Yonhap in New York. “And thus we can’t accept any sanctions under the resolutions.

“The sanctions are meant to suffocate us, and no country in the world would find that acceptable,” Pak added. “But the sanctions won’t solve anything. We’ve been living under sanctions for over a half century and we’ll continue to live the way we always have.”

A high-ranking official at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said the latest UN sanctions have both “practical impact and symbolic significance.”

“The five companies on the list are all important players in North Korea’s international trade,” the official said. “This will stifle the North’s trade activities.”

As for the travel ban on individuals, the official said North Koreans don’t often travel overseas, “but this sends a certain message to Pyongyang.”

The Unification Ministry, which oversees the South’s business dealings with the North, said South Korean companies have not done any transactions with the five sanctioned companies in inter-Korean projects. Spokesman Chun Hae-sung said the ministry will work with other related ministries to “duly fulfill the sanctions obligations.”

Aside from Pak at the UN missions, Pyongyang didn’t have an immediate reaction to the UN sanctions. But after the Obama administration froze the assets of Namchongang and Hong Kong Electronics earlier this month, North Korea fired nearly a dozen missiles of varying ranges, including on the Independence Day holiday for Americans on July 4.

The North previously said it would develop another source for nuclear weapons by enriching its uranium. It also warned that any attempt to intercept its vessels, as per Resolution 1874, would be regarded as “an act of war” that would lead to “a decisive military response.”


By Yoo Jee-ho [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
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