The U.S. wants the United Nations Security Council to vote on tighter sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday as international support lines up against the isolated country for a missile launch and nuclear test earlier this year. With the Security Council’s presidency shifting to Angola on Tuesday, the U.S. wants North Korea to be among the first issues taken up. Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed North Korea during a meeting in Washington last week, saying “significant” progress was made in drafting a UN resolution. According to a draft resolution obtained by Bloomberg News last week, the council would consider:
  • Mandatory inspections of all vessels going in and out of North Korea.
  • Banning exports from the country of minerals such as gold, titanium, rare earths, coal, and iron—a key source of hard currency for the Kim Jong Un regime.
  • Banning aviation fuel exports to North Korea.
  • Designating additional individuals subject to travel bans and asset freezes
  • Banning North Korea from chartering vessels or aircraft.
The draft didn’t include a ban on exporting oil to North Korea, and has a provision stating that the measures aren’t intended to have “adverse humanitarian consequences for civilian population of North Korea.” China’s support of any new sanctions is essential as it is by far North Korea’s leading trade partner, providing most of the isolated country’s energy and food. That relationship has been strained as Kim ramps up his nuclear weapons program. The country tested a nuclear weapon in early January and followed that last month with a rocket launch. UN action would come after North Korea’s government said a detained U.S. college student confessed to taking down a propaganda sign in Pyongyang after entering the country on a tourist visa. North Korea has previously used detained U.S. nationals as a way to lure prominent American figures, such as former President Jimmy Carter, to Pyongyang as mediators to open dialog with Washington.