The U.S. on July 6 announced sanctions on Kim and 10 other individuals for “notorious abuses of human rights”.
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The move came after the council adopted a resolution brought forth by the European Union and Japan condemning the “long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.
Sanctioning Kim Jong-un and others will not only have a direct financial impact on the North Korean regime but could also have powerful secondary reverberations.
The U.S. action comes at a time when the North Korean government is pushing ahead with its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, despite the threat of worldwide sanctions.
The sanctions also extend to five North Korean state entities, including the Ministry of People’s Security, which the report says oversees labor camps and other detention facilities, where torture, execution, rape, starvation and forced labor takes place.
“The United States has dared to challenge the highest authority of ours, committing the worst-ever hostile act that goes beyond confrontation over the so-called human rights issue”.
China’s foreign ministry, asked about the new sanctions, reiterated its policy of opposing unilateral sanctions.
South Korea’s foreign ministry has welcomed the announcement, saying it too will join various efforts in tackling the North’s human rights issues.
“We have no illusions that this is going to bring some sort of dramatic change in and of itself to North Korea”, the official added, “but simply lifting the anonymity of these functionaries may make them think twice from time to time when they consider a particular act of cruelty or repression”.
The senior official said there was evidence that an increasing number of people inside North Korea, including inside Kim’s regime, are conscious that Kim’s strongman rule might have its limits.
It remains to be seen whether the unprecedented USA sanctions will have a dramatic effect on North Korea, as they are largely seen as a symbolic measure.
North Korea has been under United Nations sanctions since 2006.
North Korea’s leader is the subject of state-mandated adulation inside the country and considered infallible.
It is not the first time a head of state has been placed on the State Department list. A 2014 report by the United Nations, which referred to Kim by name in connection to human rights, triggered a strong reaction from Pyongyang, including a string of military provocations.
Among the 11 newly designated individuals is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and of the recently established State Affairs Commission.
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Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department has identified Kim’s date of birth as January 8, 1984, a rare official confirmation of his birthday.
