The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution that strengthens sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The text of the resolution was stronger than expected and some experts have raised the possibility that China might be trying to change its policy toward one of its closest allies.
Most notable is that, for the first time, the resolution will target the illicit activities of North Korean diplomats, the country’s banking relationships, illegal transfers of bulk cash and add new travel restrictions. These provisions are aimed at making it harder for the Stalinist regime to come by the hard currency it needs to carry out its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.
The resolution urges states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard ― a new provision that could affect China, which usually allows North Korean flights over its territory. States are also under legal obligations to bar any North Korean cargo vessel that refuses their requests for inspection from entering their ports.
But provisions for the council’s military actions and a “secondary boycott” on firms that do business with Pyongyang were omitted from the resolution, probably reflecting Beijing’s hope to avoid actions that could lead to the collapse of the impoverished regime.
If past experience is any guide, however, the new resolution won’t be instrumental in discouraging the North from being a nuclear weapons state. Over the last 10 years, the international community has sought to persuade Pyongyang to drop its nuclear ambitions through the six-party talks, but to no avail. The consequences have been a vicious cycle of sanctions and threats and the situation has reached a point where the isolationist country has even threatened to destroy Seoul with “lighter and smaller nukes.”
Now is the time for all parties involved in North Korea’s nuclear issue to devise game-changing measures to discourage the North from going nuclear.
The U.S. needs to act decisively, given Pyongyang’s oft-reconciliatory message as quoted by U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman, who made a bizarre visit to the North last week and met with the country’s young leader, Kim Jong-un. Washington must be ready to talk with Pyongyang about anything, including a peace agreement, which is a sensitive issue for Seoul.
To make the sanctions effective, it’s imperative to persuade China to enforce them. Given Beijing’s looming leadership change, this might be a good time for Seoul to persuade Beijing to drop its unilateral siding with Pyongyang.
Despite the North’s wayward and belligerent attitude, President Park Geun-hye still intends to make good on her trust-building campaign pledge, and this is a welcome move. She needs to show her capabilities as head of state by turning the current inter-Korean confrontational mode into a reconciliatory one and encouraging the U.S. to take an active part in the initiative to resolve North Korea’s nuclear woes.