U.N. Approves China-Backed Sanctions on North Korea

The United Nations Security Council approved a new regimen of sanctions on Thursday against North Korea for its underground nuclear test last month in a unanimous vote that came just hours after North Korea threatened for the first time to launch a pre-emptive nuclearstrike against the United States and South Korea.

The North Korean leadership, which had warned the Security Council not to approve the sanctions, said it was responding to threats already made against it, citing the American-South Korean military exercises currently under way as evidence the allies were preparing for “a nuclear war aimed to mount a pre-emptive strike” on North Korea.

The tougher sanctions impose penalties on North Korean banking, travel and trade and were passed in a 15-0 vote that reflected the country’s increased international isolation. China, the North’s longtime benefactor, helped the United States draft the sanctions resolution in what outside experts called a sign of Beijing’s growing annoyance with Pyongyang’s defiant behavior on the nuclear issue. The Chinese had entreated the North Koreans not to proceed with the Feb. 12 underground nuclear test, their third.

Both China and the United States presented the new constraints as adding significant pressure on North Korea. Whether it will change North Korea’s behavior is unknown.

Source: nytimes

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