By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
Washington plans to set up new legal and institutional measures to impose additional sanctions on North Korea’s arms trade, the supply of luxury goods to the North’s regime, drug trafficking and counterfeit bills, a high-level official said Sunday.
The official told reporters on condition of anonymity that Robert Einhorn, U.S. State Department’s special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, will visit South Korea in August to consult with the South Korean government about the plan.
His remarks came days after U.S. Secretary of Clinton announced the decision to impose additional country-specific sanctions on North Korea to cut off the cash inflow through illicit activities after the “2+2” meeting held in Seoul.
In the wake of the announcement, Pyongyang threatened Saturday to bolster its nuclear defiance and take strong measures.
“If the United States uses a sword, we are going to use the same weapon. This is our way,” the unnamed spokesman of the North Korean foreign ministry said through the state-controlled Central News Agency.
A North Korea watcher here however said although the two sides appeared to be engaged in a game of chicken over denuclearization in North Korea at the moment, he thinks that the window of opportunity for dialogue is still open.
“Pyongyang insisted that it will return to the six-party talks if and when Washington lifts sanctions, while the latter demands that the former come to dialogue first and then discuss the issues later,” Professor Yoo Ho-yeol of Korea University told The Korea Times.
Yoo said the role of China will be critical in narrowing the gap between Pyongyang and Washington in order to create the adequate mood for dialogue.
In an interview with Voice of America last week, Einhorn said he will consult with the South Korean government on what the two sides will do to implement the UN Security Council resolutions and what more can be done.
“We are now in the process of finalizing these measures and the form of the measures and the specific content will be made publicly shortly,” he was quoted as saying.
After U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the plan to impose additional financial sanctions on individuals, banks and businesses helping the North to conduct illicit transactions, skepticism over the effectiveness of those measures runs high among North Korea watchers here.
According to them, the North learned a lesson from the Banco Delta Asia case and probably diversified its accounts and the channels for transactions for hiding assets.
In 2005, Macau’s Banco Delta Asia froze some $25 million in North Korean accounts after the U.S. Treasury Department accused the bank of laundering money for the North.
“We’ll see if those sanctions will work. But I think we need to wait until the U.S. government unveils what those measures are before making a hasty judgment over the effectiveness,” said Professor Yoo.
The North’s foreign ministry denounced the United States for planning to impose further sanctions, as well as the scheduled naval drills in the East Sea this month and in the West Sea later.
“The United States already crossed the line set by us (by announcing sanctions and naval exercises). As they crossed the line, we, North Korea, don’t need to be restrained by the line set by the U.S. government, either,” the ministry said.
It further said the North will strengthen its nuclear deterrence, which according to North Korea experts hints that the Stalinist state may go for a third nuclear test following the first one in 2006 and the second in 2009.