China and Russia Show No Opposition to US Proposal for Additional UN Security Council Sanctions on North Korea

Ant?nio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] China and Russia have reportedly not expressed opposition as of the 18th to the United States' request to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for additional designation of North Korea sanctions targets.

On the 18th, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters that when asked if any country had expressed opposition to the UNSC North Korea sanctions pushed by the U.S., "As far as we know, there is none yet, but since there is still time, we need to wait and see." If no opposition arises among the 15 Security Council members by 3 p.m. on the 20th (New York time), the additional designations will be made.

The U.S. has recently requested the UNSC Sanctions Committee to designate five North Koreans involved in procuring missile materials for North Korea as sanctions targets.

On the 12th (local time), the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed independent sanctions on five North Koreans affiliated with the National Defense Science Institute (Second Academy of Natural Sciences) operating in China and Russia, and now aims to list them as UNSC sanctions targets as well.

If included on the U.S. independent sanctions list, assets in the U.S. are frozen and transactions with U.S. persons and companies are prohibited; however, UNSC sanctions are stronger as they prohibit visits by all U.N. member states and freeze assets globally.

Separately from the Treasury Department, the State Department also imposed independent sanctions on one North Korean, one Russian, and one Russian company, but these have not yet been submitted as candidates for UNSC sanctions.

Although China and Russia have not yet expressed opposition to the UNSC, they have already publicly expressed negative positions on additional North Korea sanctions, so there is a possibility they may attempt to block the measures.