US senators urge Obama to expand sanctions on N. Korea, blacklist Chinese entities assisting Pyongyang

A group of U.S. senators have sent a letter to President Barack Obama, urging the administration to expand sanctions on North Korea, including imposing "secondary sanctions" on Chinese entities assisting the regime in Pyongyang.

The 19 senators, led by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), sent the joint letter to Obama on Friday, expressing concern that the rapid advancement of the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programs represents "a direct threat to the U.S. homeland in the immediate future."

"In the wake of this latest provocation from Pyongyang, we ask you to take immediate steps to expand U.S. sanctions against North Korea and those entities that assist the regime, most importantly China-based entities," the senators said in the letter, referring to the North's fifth nuclear test.

They also urged the administration to expedite the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea and take all feasible steps to facilitate stronger trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to more effectively counter the North Korean threat.

"We also ask you to urgently pursue an additional United Nations Security Council Resolution to impose additional multilateral sanctions against Pyongyang," they said. "This resolution must close loopholes of previous resolutions, such as the 'livelihood' exemption, which have allowed China to skirt faithful compliance with" the sanctions.

Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, is a key author of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 that went into effect in March to punish the North for its fourth nuclear test in January and its long-range rocket launch in February.

"Your Administration's implementation of this legislation has been disappointing," the letter said.

"While we commend the designation of North Korea as a jurisdiction of 'primary money laundering concern' and the designation of top North Korean officials, including Kim Jong-un, as human rights violators, these actions only scratch the surface of the sanctions authorities provided to you under the new law."

More than anything else, the U.S. should designate entities assisting the North Korean regime, especially those based in China, the senators said, noting that trade with China accounts for about 90 percent of its entire trade and China has "historically served as Pyongyang's largest military and diplomatic protector."

The letter also includes half a dozen questions, including whether the administration has credible evidence that entities in China are engaging in illicit activities under the U.S. sanctions law, if China is in full compliance with the latest U.N. sanctions resolution, and why the administration has not designated any entities for malicious cyber-enabled activities.

They also include whether the administration believes the U.N. sanctions and the U.S. sanctions are having any effect on the North's ability to obtain luxury goods, whether the North's state-owned Air Koryo airline is involved in any activities outlined in the sanctions law, and what actions the administration has taken to discourage the North Korean forced labor camps.

"Mr. President, we must send a strong message to Beijing that our patience has run out and exert any and all effort with Beijing to use its critical leverage to stop Pyongyang," the senators said in the letter. (Yonhap)