As Richard Nephew noted over at 38 North, the new sanctions, courtesy of UN Security Council resolution 2270, are “probably the most comprehensive, legally-binding sanctions program imposed against a country since Iraq in the 1990s”.
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The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.
Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported.
Wednesday’s Security Council resolution ushered in the fifth set of United Nations sanctions to hit North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006, and was the result of arduous negotiations between the USA and China, Pyongyang’s sole major ally.
North Korea has threatened nuclear war in the past, but it is unclear just how advanced the country’s nuclear program really is.
Top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un said that the only way to defend the nation’s sovereignty is to further strengthen nuclear forces in quality and the military should be prepared to deliver nuclear warheads at any time.
China had been reluctant to endorse harsh sanctions out of concern that too much pressure would trigger the collapse of the pariah regime, creating chaos on its border.
Analysts still doubt whether North Korea has the ability to make a nuclear bomb small enough to put on a feasible missile, but Kim Jong-un’s announcement brought a swift response from the US.
According to South Korea’s Defense Ministry, the North fired six short-range projectiles off its east coast Thursday.
North Korean citizens in the capital, Pyongyang, interviewed by The Associated Press said Thursday they believe their country can fight off any sanctions.
The US and South Korea on Friday started talks on the possible deployment of a US missile defence shield in the South. The sanctions come in response to North Korea’s nuclear and long-range rocket tests earlier this year. Opponents say the system could help USA radar spot missiles in other countries.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Thursday she will cooperate with the global community in trying to end North Korean “tyranny that suppresses the freedom and human rights” of its own people.
In January, Pyongyang claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, and in February it fired what it said was a satellite-bearing rocket.
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“THAAD Is a purely defensive weapon, it is purely capable of shooting down a ballistic missile it intercepts and it is there for the protection of the United States”, Secretary of State John Kerry said last month during a visit to Beijing.
