By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea and the United States have agreed to make intensive efforts in the next two to three months to cut off cash flow to North Korea in order to limit its ability to continue the development of nuclear weapons.
The agreement was made during the third round of high-level strategic consultations on North Korea policy between South Korea’s Deputy Chief of the National Security Office Cho Tae-yong and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken in Washington, Wednesday.
“The two countries agreed on the need to create more effective measures to pressure the North and cut off cash flowing into the regime,” Cho told reporters after the four-hour talks.
“It is difficult to speak in detail, but as there already has been a framework for implementing sanctions internationally, we agreed to make intensive efforts, based on such a framework, in the next two to three months to cut off the cash flow into Pyongyang as much as possible so as to limit its ability to continue nuclear development,” he said.
The agreement came amid increasing signs that Pyongyang may conduct a fifth nuclear test very soon, given that increased nuclear-related activities at the Punggye-ri nuclear site have been detected by intelligence authorities in Seoul and Washington.
Pyongyang’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho also threatened on Tuesday at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held in Laos that the North would conduct another test depending on the “U.S. attitude.”
Cho said, “Seoul and Washington share the assessment that the North is technically capable of conducting an additional nuclear test at any time once its regime decides to do so.”
The totalitarian state is known to have earned foreign currency in various ways, including sending workers abroad, and then using the money for the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
According to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service last month, Pyongyang has up to 60,000 construction workers and other manual laborers abroad, mostly in China and Russia, with the mission to send home foreign currency.
Cho said Seoul and Washington also shared the assessment that the allies’ cooperation to isolate the North from the international community, especially in the finance and shipping, has brought some gain, but also agreed to make more effort to change the North’s calculus.
If the repressive state pushes ahead with its fifth nuclear test, the allies will make full efforts to create stronger sanctions than the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2270, Cho noted.
In the wake of the North’s fourth nuclear test in January, the UNSC adopted Resolution 2270 in March aimed at banning Pyongyang’s international trade.
Unilaterally, the South Korean government shut down the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong as part of its efforts to cut off the North’s financial resources.
Despite such sanctions, the isolated state has shown no signs of abandoning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs by repeatedly launching missiles, including Musudan intermediate-range missiles (IRBM), believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, as well as a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
“Though the current Resolution 2270 is a much stronger sanctions resolution than before, there are points that we need to supplement and there are areas that should be newly included in the scope of sanctions,” Cho said. “During the meeting, we exchanged views on the need to put together a strong sanctions resolution in case North Korea conducts a fifth nuclear test.”
On concerns that the North’s long-time ally China could behave in an uncooperative manner in implementing sanctions in protest against Seoul’s decision to allow the United States to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil next year, Cho said he believes China will fully implement the sanctions.
“China is a permanent member of the UNSC. The council resolutions are something that it decided on its own as a permanent Security Council member. China tells us it will sincerely carry out the Security Council resolution and we believe China will do so,” he said
Seoul and Washington announced the deployment decision earlier this month.
Beijing is expressing opposition to the missile defense system, apparently out of concern that the weapon’s AN/TPY-2 radar could spy on China's military activities and missile capabilities.
South Korea and the United States’ high-level strategic consultations on North Korea policy were established during a Seoul-Washington summit in October last year. The first round of the talks took place in February in Washington, while the second was held in April in Seoul.