The newly announced USA sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for human rights violations is not expected to have any immediate impact, but advocates say the new measures will increase pressure on the repressive state and continue to isolate its leadership.
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“The Secretary-General believes that discussion of human rights concerns allows for a more comprehensive assessment and action when addressing security and stability concerns on the Korean Peninsula”, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
In its first reaction to the move, Pyongyang urged Washington to retract the sanctions immediately, warning that the North would instantly cut off “every lever and channel for diplomatic contact” between the two countries if the USA failed to do so.
China – the North’s most important ally – lashed out at the move, which it said would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia, and urged the US and South Korea to reconsider.
The move by the United States constituted “the worst hostility” against the North, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said in a statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Unless the USA is playing the North Korean card to push ahead with the deployment of THAAD missile defense system in South Korea and to toughen its military check on China, the sanctions are not helpful to anyone.
In January, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test, followed up in February with the launch of a ballistic missile that successfully placed a satellite in orbit.
Kim Jong-un topped a list in the report of those responsible for serious human rights abuses in North Korea.
But, he said, the North would probably wait until the start of the annual joint US-South Korea military exercises that begin in August to flex its military muscle.
South Korean analysts said the North was likely to react angrily at what North Koreans could perceive as a “personal insult” against Kim. The cooperation of China and Russian Federation would be needed for any further designations.
“We’re talking to them not about termination but about a ramp down”, said the U.S. official.
The DPRK’s English media output indicates that North Korea has felt other countries are declaring war over 200 times since 1997.
The US Treasury Department’s report affects Kim Jong-un, ten North Korean officials and five entities of the country and caused the freezing of properties that they may have under US jurisdiction and prohibiting US citizens to engage in financial transactions with them.
The North is already feeling the weight of multiple United Nations resolutions related to its development of nuclear weapons, including a strengthened package of sanctions imposed in March.
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Other North Korean officials designated in the blacklist include Choe Pu Il, minister of People’s Security; Ri Song Chol, a counselor in the Ministry of People’s Security; as well as Kang Song Nam, a bureau director with the Ministry of State Security.
