T he US will formally present a draft resolution seeking toughened sanctions against North Korea to the UN Security Council later on Thursday, US spokesman Kurtis Cooper said.
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US Ambassador Samantha Power says the resolution, if adopted, would send “an unambiguous and unyielding message to the DPRK regime: The world will not accept your proliferation”. China and the United States have reportedly agreed on a draft UNSC resolution containing a tough round of sanctions against North Korea for its latest acts of provocation.
The U.S. and China, the only superpower ally that North Korea has, have been working on the resolution for the past seven weeks.
The U.S. says a draft resolution is due to be submitted to the council Thursday.
South Korea and Japan have also announced new measures against Pyongyang.
“We are not in a position (to agree to a quick vote) because the draft is huge in details and there are all kinds of annexes that we should analyze”, he said.
One Security Council envoy said the new sanctions were significant and go far beyond the penalties already in place against North Korea.
Both tests were in violation of a series of resolutions barring North Korea from developing a nuclear and ballistic missile program. In particular, the document provides for the mandatory inspection of all cargoes going to North Korea, as well as a ban on the purchase of coal, iron, gold, titanium and other raw materials and metals from the country.
The draft resolution would also ban imports of aviation fuel, with no exceptions, and exports of rare earths and mineral by North Korea, the diplomat said. China’s Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of these developments, but analysts say popular support is increasing in China to cut off potential funding for North Korea’s nuclear program. Furthermore, he said that the United States president is looking forward to welcoming the Chinese President Xi Jinping to a March 31-April 1 nuclear security summit in Washington and “working together towards its success”.
North Korea launched a satellite into space over the weekend, but now we’ve learned that it is spinning out of control. North Korea’s sole airline, Air Koryo, will be shut out of United Nations members’ airspace, according to sources.
Beijing was gravely upset by the North’s long-range rocket launch that happened while the Security Council was in the process of discussing the level of punishment for its nuclear test, added the official.
“The situation came to a point where (the joint drills) dare to target our revolutionary leadership”, the statement said reported by Yonhap (via Koreaherald.com).
It also calls for the blacklisting of dozens of North Korean individuals and entities.
The ministers said the goal of the new resolution is to persuade Pyongyang to resume talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme.
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After a decade of sanctions, the panel said, it found “no indications that the country intends to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs”.
