US President Barack Obama on Wednesday levied sanctions against North Korea in response to the reclusive country’s recent “illicit” nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The sanctions block certain transactions on property belonging to the North Korean government and to the Workers’ Party of Korea. They follow the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption this month of some of the toughest sanctions in decades against North Korea for defying the world by pushing ahead with its nuclear program. Obama enacted separate US sanctions last month.
An executive order signed by Obama that went into effect on Wednesday merges both sets of sanctions, enabling the US government to implement them.
“These actions are consistent with our longstanding commitment to apply sustained pressure on the North Korean regime,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a written statement announcing Obama’s action. “The US and the global community will not tolerate North Korea’s illicit nuclear and ballistic missile activities, and we will continue to impose costs on North Korea until it comes into compliance with its international obligations.”
In a vote that reflected growing anger over North Korea’s repeated violations of a ban on all nuclear-related activity, the UN Security Council on March 2 unanimously approved the toughest set of sanctions against the nation in two decades. The punishment includes mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang; and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in “illicit activities.”
Legislation that Obama signed into law on Feb. 18 was designed to deny North Korea the money it needs to develop miniaturized warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them.
In Beijing, China yesterday said that it “opposes any country’s unilateral sanctions.”
“We have stressed that the unilateral actions taken by any country must not undermine the lawful rights and interests of China,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) told a regular briefing.
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