Sun, Feb 25, 2018 page1

• US preparing crackdown on seas

  ‘WE MEAN BUSINESS’: Senior officials said the initiative demonstrates Washington’s growing need to force North Korea into talks on abandoning its weapons programs

  • Reuters, WASHINGTON
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  The administration of US President Donald Trump and key Asian allies are preparing to expand interceptions of ships suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea, a plan that could include deploying US Coast Guard forces to stop and search vessels in Asia-Pacific waters, senior US officials said.

  Washington has been talking to regional partners, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore, about coordinating a stepped-up crackdown that would go further than ever before in an attempt to squeeze Pyongyang’s use of seagoing trade to feed its nuclear and missile programs, several officials told Reuters.

  While suspect ships have been intercepted before, the emerging strategy would expand the scope of such operations, but stop short of imposing a naval blockade on North Korea.

  

  US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speaks at a news conference at the White House in Washington on Friday.

  Photo: Reuters

  Pyongyang has warned it would consider a blockade an act of war.

  The strategy calls for closer tracking and possible seizure of ships suspected of carrying banned weapons components and other prohibited cargo to or from North Korea, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

  Depending on the scale of the campaign, the US could consider beefing up the naval and air power of the US Pacific Command, they said.

  The US-led initiative shows Washington’s increasing urgency to force North Korea into negotiations over the abandonment of its weapons programs, the officials said.

  North Korea might be only a few months away from completing development of a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland, despite existing international sanctions that, at times, have been sidestepped by smuggling and ship-to-ship transfers at sea of banned goods, officials have said.

  “There is no doubt we all have to do more, short of direct military action, to show [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un we mean business,” a senior US administration official said.

  The effort could target vessels on the high seas or in the territorial waters of countries that choose to cooperate. However, it was unclear to what extent the campaign might extend beyond Asia.

  Washington on Friday slapped sanctions on dozens more entities and vessels linked to North Korean shipping trade and urged the UN to blacklist a list of entities, a move it said was aimed at shutting down North Korea’s illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal.

  The US Department of the Treasury listed a Taiwanese national, Tsang Yung-yuan (張永源), and two companies he owns or controls among the sanctioned entities.

  Tsang reportedly coordinated North Korean coal exports with a Russia-based North Korean broker, and attempted a US$1 million oil deal with a Russian company sanctioned for dealing with the North.

  Tighter sanctions plus a more assertive approach at sea could dial up tensions at a time when fragile diplomacy between North and South Korea has gained momentum.

  It would also stretch US military resources needed elsewhere, possibly incur massive new costs and fuel misgivings among some nations in the region.

  The initiative, which is still being developed, would be fraught with challenges that could risk triggering North Korean retaliation and dividing the international community.

  However, Washington is expected to start gradually ratcheting up such operations soon, even if discussions with allies have not been completed, the senior US official said.

  US experts have been developing legal arguments for doing more to stop sanctions-busting vessels, citing the last UN Security Council resolution, which they have said opened the door by calling on states to inspect suspect ships on the high seas or in their waters.

  Washington is also drawing up rules of engagement aimed at avoiding armed confrontation at sea, the officials said.

  Some US officials believe the risk could be minimized if coast guard cutters, which carry less firepower and technically engage in law enforcement missions, are used in certain cases rather than warships.

  The coast guard declined to address whether it might deploy ships to the Asia-Pacific region, but acknowledged its ties to countries there.

  A senior South Korean government official said there had been discussions over “intensified maritime interdictions,” including at a foreign ministers’ meeting in Vancouver last month, where US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressed counterparts on the issue.

  “We are discussing with various countries, including the US and South Korea, how to fully implement the sanctions, but I have not heard talk of creating a framework or a coalition,” a Japanese Ministry of Defense official involved in policy planning said.

  The Trump administration has also sought greater cooperation from Southeast Asian countries, which might have little military capability to assist, but are seen as sources of intelligence on ship movements, US officials said.

  Additional reporting by AP
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