WASHINGTON ― A top U.S. diplomat for East Asia told the Senate foreign relations subcommittee that the Obama administration is seeking ways to enhance the efficacy of sanctions on North Korea.
Sanctions “have not yet caused the DPRK to change course” and come to denuclearization talks, although they were effective in creating “significant problems for the North Korean regime.”
In a hearing held on the “Persistent Threat of North Korea,” September 28, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Russel also testified that the administration has engaged China at the highest level for its cooperation on sanctions and “regularly urges China to do more to prevent the DPRK from using Chinese companies.”
On September 24, the treasury department designated a Chinese trading company ― Dandong Hongxiang ― and four individuals for sanction targets in an aggressive U.S. effort to curb the North Korean nuclear and missile programs.
However, this company is not a bank, and the impact of the targeted sanction in this case will not be as great as sanctioning a bank or banks that are doing business with the DPRK. It would not be like the far-reaching impact of sanctions against the Banco Delta Asia in 2007.
At the hearing, the State Department’s sanctions coordinator Daniel Fried said the treasury department and other U.S. agencies are constantly monitoring any illegal financial transactions with North Korea.
The Senators reminded the witnesses of the full authority that the Congress gave the administration to carry out secondary sanctions on Chinese banks. One Senator said, “There must be banks in China that North Korea uses that should be subject to sanctions.”
The Congress wants to see more pressure on China to faithfully enforce the existing UN sanctions, including UN Resolution 2270, and to cooperate in adopting a new UN resolution that would close loopholes in the sanctions and impose additional sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea earns about $1 billion from coal exports, mostly to China, about 30% of Pyongyang’s revenue from trade. Other revenue streams include the export of iron ore and foreign currency earnings by North Korean laborers sent to China, Russia, and other countries.
The hearing did not present any change in U.S. policy dealing with North Korea nor did it reveal new information. The good news was that there was no discussion of any recent North Korean exports of missiles or arms, perhaps a credit to the international and unilateral sanctions designed to interdict exports on arms and arms materials.
Assistant Secretary Russel said the U.S. goal is a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue through a policy grounded on deterrence, pressure and diplomacy. To this end, he said, the U.S. is cooperating with its allies and partners in the international community to expand sanctions, as a part of the “global pressure campaign” against North Korea.