With a unanimous vote, the United Nations Security Council strengthened sanctions against North Korea in response to that country’s provocative ballistic missile tests. The U.S.-led resolution levels the largest package of economic sanctions ever against the regime.
The additional sanctions target North Korea’s principal exports — coal, metals and seafood — and will prevent North Korea from earning over $1 billion per year that would be redirected to fund its illicit weapons programs, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
“These sanctions will cut deep and, in doing so, will give the North Korean leadership a taste of the deprivation they have chosen to inflict on the North Korean people,” Haley said after the August 5 vote.
There is “no daylight among the international community” on this issue, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum on August 7.
China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, made important contributions to the resolution, Haley said.
Separately, President Trump signed into law new sanctions by the U.S. against North Korea on August 2.
