N. Korea faces blockade on all sides

Samantha Power, left, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., and China's Ambassador to the U.N. Liu Jieyi, center, talk to the media during a break in U.N. Security Council consultations at the United Nations, Thursday. The United States introduced a draft resolution that it said will significantly increase pressure on North Korea in response to its latest nuclear test and rocket launch. / AP-Yonhap

Draft bill to authorize inspection of all cargo to and from North

By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel speaks to reporters upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, Friday. He later held discussions with Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun. / Yonhap

North Korea faces an unprecedented trade blockade in a package of harsher sanctions that awaits the U.N. Security Council’s approval.

The draft bill authorizes mandatory inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea for the first time.

It also bans exports of coal, iron, gold, titanium and rare earth minerals from North Korea while prohibiting the international supply of aviation fuel, including rocket fuel from entering the country.

This means North Korea will be virtually blocked from the outside world, if the new penalties take effect, analysts said.

The South Korean government said Friday that the proposed resolution will restrain the Kim Jong-un regime effectively from pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile technology.

“These will be the most powerful U.N. sanctions on North Korea by far,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official, who asked not to be named. “It will be critical to implement the resolution in cooperation with China and other neighboring countries.”

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official voiced a similar view, saying, “North Korea will face extreme difficulty in carrying out its nuclear program if the U.N. bill is implemented.”

Jointly outlined by the United States and China ― both permanent UNSC members ― the resolution is aimed at tightening punitive measures against North Korea for its latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, which was considered a U.N.-banned ballistic missile test.

The draft bill was introduced, Thursday, in addition to a set of four UNSC sanctions ―1718, 1874, 2097 and 2094. They were approved between 2006 and 2013 when North Korea carried out three nuclear tests and fired long-range rockets.

Analysts were optimistic that the U.N. bill will press North Korea to certain extent.

However, they said that the bill may be insufficient to force the internationally-isolated regime to give up its weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) immediately but instead allow Pyongyang to contemplate in a timely manner before joining denuclearization talks.

“The resolution is significant that it is comprehensive, powerful and symbolic compared to previous UNSC resolutions,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “It should, however, be noted that the goals of the U.S. and China are not to push North Korea into a corner and scrap its nuclear program at once.”

Yang pointed out that the U.N. resolution excludes banning the export of crude oil to the Kim regime. China has been concerned that this would lead to the collapse of the North and create chaos on its border.

“As Pyongyang’s largest benefactor, Beijing certainly wants its traditional ally to have room to contemplate before giving up its WMDs and Washington agreed to do so.”

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University, agreed with Yang, citing that minerals account for some 40 percent of North Korea’s annual trade with China.

“The draft resolution has many elements for North Korea to exploit to prop up its regime,” he said.

Yang speculated the North will make an announcement on resuming suspended nuclear talks in May when the Workers’ Party Congress is held for the first time in 36 years.