The UN Security Council is discussing sanctions which, for the first time, will target individuals involved in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, a South Korean official said yesterday.
The 15-member council imposed sanctions on the North on June 12 over its May 25 nuclear test, banning all weapons shipments except small arms and authorizing cargo inspections. The council has since been discussing a list of entities, goods and individuals to be subject to the sanctions.
“Unlike before, the list they are working on will include North Korean individuals this time,” a Seoul government official said on condition of anonymity. “You may say sanctions are toughening.”
Previous sanctions targeted companies whose overseas assets were frozen, but not individuals.
The official did not say how many people would be on the list or who they were, adding that the Security Council was still in talks.
Local media have said they would likely include Ju Kyu-chang, a National Defense Commission member supervising nuclear and missile development, and two nuclear scientists — So Sang-kuk of Kim Il-sung University and Li Yong-ha of Yongbyon Physics University.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” the official said, in response to media reports that 15 people would face travel bans and a freeze on any overseas assets.
However, he said there was a “strong sentiment” that the list should be finalized no later than yesterday in New York, to meet an extended deadline of July 19.
Washington has been pushing for tough enforcement of the sanctions.
Since a long-range rocket launch in early April, the North has staged its second nuclear test, fired a variety of shorter-range missiles, renounced the truce in force on the Korean Peninsula and quit nuclear disarmament talks.
US and South Korean officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-il, 67, is staging a show of strength to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan for his youngest son Kim Jong-un.
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS