The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday, at the request of the United States, on a resolution to tighten sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Despite the risk of being vetoed by China and Russia, the US, which holds the presidency of the Security Council until the end of the month, drew up a draft resolution that, among other measures, will further restrict oil imports from Pyongyang.
The document calls for a reduction, from the current four million barrels of oil to three million barrels, in the amount that North Korea can legally import each year for civilian use.
The measure will also reduce imports of refined oil from 500,000 to 375,000 barrels and strengthen maritime sanctions.
The resolution will further ban North Korean exports, including watches or mineral fuels, as well as any sales or transfers to Pyongyang of tobacco and tobacco products.
The text can also ban on supplying North Korea with means of information and communicationwhich provides for sanctions on companies and individuals, including the Haegumgang Trading Corporation, which reportedly signed a contract worth six million dollars (5.6 million euros) to supply Mozambique with surface-to-air missiles, radars and portable surveillance systems for air defense.
The resolution would also freeze the global assets of the Korea Namgang Trading Corporation, which sends North Korean workers abroad to generate revenue for the government, and the Lazarus group, accused of cyber activities to circumvent international sanctions.
The text intends add Kim Su-il, the alleged representative in Vietnam, to the sanctions list of the North Korean Department of Munitions Industry, responsible for the development of the North’s ballistic missiles.
The proposal is likely to face opposition from China and Russia, North Korea’s neighbors, who told a Security Council meeting on May 11 that they wanted to see new negotiations and not more punishment for Pyongyang.
We do not believe that a resolution proposed by the United States can solve any problem,” China’s mission to the UN said in a statement Wednesday night.
A few hours earlier, North Korea tested three missiles, including a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile, in a short space of time.
The tests came hours after the departure from the region of US President Joe Biden, who visited Asia in particular to reaffirm support for Seoul and Tokyo in the face of Pyongyang’s nuclear threat.
The launches bring to 18 the total of tests of this type carried out this year by the North Korean regime and, according to Seoul, included that of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could be the Hwasong-17, a new North Korean. model considered among the largest in the world of its kind.
Source: Observadora
