Security Council Oks North Sanctions

The final draft of the UN Security Council Resolution on North Korea has been outlined and all five permanent members of the Security Council and Japan, the chairman country of the Security Council, came to an agreement on the last issue at a closed meeting on October 12.

The main issue of the resolution was invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. If Chapter 7 is invoked, not only will this be effective to all UN members but also it will include military sanctions. This was the reason why China has been against invoking Chapter 7.

The U.S. has been clamoring to invoke Chapter 7 comprehensively because it says the nuclear test by North Korea is a clear threat to international peace and security.

The six nations consented to the final draft that will impose sanctions to comply with Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, and punitive measures on the North will be imposed under Clause 41 of the Chapter.

Although invoking Charter 7 of the UN Charter is an indicator of the seriousness of the nuclear test, military sanctions have been precluded. This shows a compromise after the U.S. and Japan accepted China’s position that military sanctions could elevate tension on the Korean peninsula.

If UN Security Council adopts this final resolution, this will mean that this resolution will be the first one ever imposing punitive measures on North Korea by invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, according to well-informed UN sources.

If North Korea conducts additional nuclear tests, this will cause harsher sanctions. Therefore merely invoking part of the Chapter 7 will intensify pressure on North Korea to comply.

The clause imposing sanctions on export and import goods was amended from “all goods may be checked if deemed necessarily” to “collaborative measures will be taken such as checking goods if possible.”

However, clauses such as banning exports on luxuries, specific war supplies including tanks, components related to nuclear, mobile rocket launchers, freezing financial assets of individuals and groups related to weapon or missile programs in North Korea, and calling for the ban of its nuclear program remained the same.

One noticeable clause is the one imposing a ban to export luxury goods to North Korea. The clause, which was strongly asked for by the U.S., will make it hard to bring in luxury vehicles such as Mercedes Benz or expensive liquors to North Korea. This will undermine all the means to give gifts, which Kim Jong Il has used to gain loyalty from the main elites of North Korea.

John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the UN, said, “While permitting to supply usual necessities to North Korean residents, our goal is to prohibit supplying expensive goods which can be used for weapon development or handed to the North Korean elites.”

Meanwhile, Tang Jiaxuan, China’s foreign minister (on the level of Deputy Prime Minister in China), who visited US as a special envoy representing China’s President Hu Jintao, and U.S. President George W. Bush played a crucial role in bringing the discussion forward. In addition, he visited Moscow, Russia to discuss measures about the nuclear weapon issue in North Korea.

As the six UNSC nations came to an agreement, the UN Security Council resolution of sanctions on North Korea is most likely to be adopted unanimously on Saturday, October 14, New York local time.

kong@donga.com orionha@donga.com