US wants UN to tighten sanctions on North Korea
The US wants the Security Council to limit oil imports with North Korea after the ballistic missile test, but may be opposed by Russia and China.
Senior officials America Washington said on May 25 that Washington would ask the United Nations Security Council to vote in the next few days to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang after it was suspected of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). However, Russia and China are expected to use their veto power in the vote.
The United States wants to activate the provision of Resolution 2397, adopted unanimously by the Security Council in 2017, which calls for increased sanctions if Pyongyang conducts more ICBM tests. The new sanctions will cut North Korean oil imports for civilian use from 4 million to 3 million barrels a year, while refined gasoline will also be reduced from 500,000 to 375,000 barrels a year.
“It’s a provision in the resolution. This is exactly what happened and we think it’s time to act,” the US official said.
North Korean oil tanker moves at sea in 2017. Photo: Japanese Defense Force.
North Korea launched three ballistic missiles in a row on the morning of May 25, including one suspected to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), just hours after US President Joe Biden ended his visit to South Korea and Japan. Copy.
Kim Tae-hyo, deputy director of South Korea’s National Security Office, said on the same day that North Korea had checked its detonator in preparation for its seventh nuclear test in its history. A detonator is a device that uses a powerful explosive, used to trigger fission reactions in nuclear bombs.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated over the past several weeks. Pyongyang has ramped up activity at key nuclear and missile test sites and test-fired multiple missiles of various types since the start of the year, including the Hwasong-17 ICBM last month.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently said he no longer felt bound by the moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, as denuclearization talks with the United States stalled.
Washington earlier this month assessed that Pyongyang was preparing to conduct a nuclear test at the Punggye-ri facility. US officials have recorded repair work in the third tunnel, predicting the test could take place in May or later. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi also warned that North Korea could complete preparations for a nuclear test this month.
If the predictions of the US and its allies come true, it will be the first time Pyongyang has detonated a nuclear device since September 2017.
Vu Anh (According to AFP)
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