UNITED NATIONS, Sept 12 (APP): The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a new resolution, banning North Korea’s textile exports and capping its oil imports following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test conducted last week. </s> The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country’s textile exports and capping imports of crude oil, Reuters reported.

It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia.

Textiles were North Korea’s second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.

The resolution imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea’s crude.

A U.S. official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imports some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4 million barrels of crude oil. </s> UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to vote late Monday on a new, watered-down sanctions resolution against North Korea that eliminates initial U.S. demands to ban all oil imports to the country and freeze international assets of the government and its leader Kim Jong Un.

The draft resolution, agreed to late Sunday after final negotiations between the U.S. and China, the North’s ally and main trading partner, also eliminates a U.S. proposal to authorize the use of force to board and inspect nine named ships, which it said violated previous U.N. sanctions resolutions.

The resolution to be voted on represents a swift response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test, which it says was a hydrogen bomb, and to its escalating launches of increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles it says can reach the United States.

But its provisions are a significant climb-down from the toughest-ever sanctions the Trump administration proposed in the initial draft resolution it circulated last Tuesday, especially on oil,where a complete ban could have crippled the country’s economy.

It would ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates. And it would cap Pyongyang’s imports of refined petroleum products at 2 million barrels a year, and crude oil at the level of the last 12 months.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, China supplies most of North Korea’s crude oil imports. It cited U.N. customs data showing that China reported sending 6,000 barrels a day of oil products to North Korea, which the agency said is mostly gasoline and diesel fuel vital to the country’s agriculture, transportation and military sectors.

That would mean North Korea imports nearly 2.2 million barrels a year in petroleum products, so the 2 million cap in the resolution would represent a 10 percent cut.

The final draft would ban also all textile exports and prohibit all countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency. It would prohibit all new and existing joint ventures and cooperative arrangements with a single exception.

Textiles are North Korea’s main source of export revenue after coal and other minerals which have already been severely restricted by previous U.N. resolutions.

North Korean textile exports in 2016 totaled $752.5 million, accounting for about one-fourth of its total $3 billion in merchandise exports, according to South Korean government figures.

The original U.S. draft would have ordered all countries to impose an asset freeze and travel ban on Kim Jong Un and four other top party and government officials. The new draft would add only one person to the sanctions list — Pak Yong Sik, a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission, which controls the country’s military and helps direct its military industries.

The original U.S. draft would also have frozen the assets of North Korea’s state-owned airline Air Koryo, the Korean People’s Army, and five other powerful military and party entities. The new draft drops sanctions on the airline and army and would only add the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the party’s powerful Organization and Guidance Department and its Propaganda and Agitation Department to the sanctions blacklist.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement early Monday saying it was watching the United States’ moves closely and warned that it was “ready and willing” to respond with measures of its own. It said the U.S. would pay a heavy price if the sanctions proposed by Washington are adopted.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters who questioned the watering down of the initial U.S. text that “there is a significant prize in keeping the whole of the Security Council united and I very much hope that all my council colleagues will vote in favor of the revised draft.” He said he expects China and Russia to support it.

Rycroft called the resolution “very robust” and “a very significant set of additional sanctions on imports into North Korea and exports out of North Korea and other measures as well.”

China and Russia had called for a resolution that focuses on a political solution to the escalating crisis over North Koreas nuclear program. They have proposed a freeze-for-freeze that would halt North Korean nuclear and missile tests in exchange for the U.S. and South Korea stopping their joint military exercises — but the Trump administration has rejected the initiative.

Russia has argued that sanctions aren’t working and President Vladimir Putin expressed concern last week that a total oil cutoff could hurt the North Korean people.

The final draft adds new language urging “further work to reduce tensions so as to advance the prospects for a comprehensive settlement,” and underscoring “the imperative of achieving the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.”

It retains language reaffirming support for long-stalled six-party talks with that goal between North Korea, the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

The final draft also adds language underscoring the Security Council’s commitment to North Korea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, to “a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the situation,” and “its concern that developments on the Korean Peninsula could have dangerous, large-scale regional security implications.”

The revised resolution retains language on the council’s “determination to take further significant measures” in the event of a new nuclear test or ballistic missile launch.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The U.N. Security Council on Monday unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea in a watered-down resolution without an oil import ban or international asset freeze on the government and leader Kim Jong Un that the Trump administration wanted.

The resolution does ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates. But it only caps Pyongyang's imports of crude oil at the level of the last 12 months, and it limits the import of refined petroleum products to 2 million barrels a year.

It also bans all textile exports and prohibits all countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency. </s> The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously approved new sanctions against North Korea in a weakened resolution that won’t ban oil imports or an international asset freeze on the government or dictator Kim Jong Un, which the Trump administration had wanted.

The resolution bans the regime from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates, and caps Pyongyang’s imports of crude oil at the level of the last 12 months. It also limits the import of refined petroleum products to 2 million barrels per year.

The sanctions also ban all textile exports and prohibit all countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers, both of which are sources of hard currency for the regime.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS ‘PAIN AND SUFFERING’ IN RETALIATION FOR NEW U.N. SANCTIONS

“This resolution sends a very clear message to North Korea that the Security Council is united in condemning North Korea’s violations and demanding North Korea give up its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” the U.S. mission to the U.N. responded.

Ahead of the vote, North Korea vowed the United States would face “pain and suffering,” and vowed it was “ready and willing” to retaliate if any new sanctions were approved by the U.N.

“The forthcoming measures to be taken by [North Korea] will cause the U.S. the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

An initial draft of the U.N. sanctions called for a ban on all oil and natural gas exports to North Korea, as well as a freeze on all foreign financial assets of the government and Kim Jong Un.

A call for tougher sanctions against North Korea came after the country said detonated a hydrogen bomb last week after a series of missile launches earlier this year.

Fox News’ Ben Evansky and The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> The United Nations security council has unanimously agreed to step up sanctions against North Korea after the country’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test on 3 September, imposing a ban on the country’s textile exports and capping imports of crude oil.

It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia.

Textiles were North Korea’s second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752m, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.

The resolution, aimed at curbing the regime’s nuclear ambitions, imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2m barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea’s crude.

A US official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imports some 4.5m barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4m barrels of crude oil.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said: “We are done trying to prod North Korea to do the right thing, we are now acting to stop it doing the wrong thing.”

However, she said the US was not looking for war with North Korea and that Pyongyang had not yet passed the point of no return.”

“If it agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. If it proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it,” she told the UN security council after the council adopted the new sanctions.

“Today’s resolution would not have happened without the strong relationship that has developed between President Trump and Chinese President Xi,” Haley said.

The US significantly diluted its package of new proposed sanctions against North Korea, dropping an oil embargo and enforceable naval blockade, to avoid a Chinese veto at the UN security council.



The much stronger version proposed by the US last week, included the first asset freeze directed at Kim Jong-un, a complete ban on oil sales to his regime, and a mandate for warships from any member state to inspect ships suspected of carrying contraband to or from North Korea, and to enforce inspect using “all necessary measures”.



The Pyongyang regime threatened retribution against Washington for any new sanctions measure threatening to inflict “the greatest pain and suffering” the US has ever encountered.

A diplomatic source at the security council said that the revisions in the draft had been made with the aim of securing acquiescence from China and Russia, who expressed serious reservations about the original version.

“This is a text designed for adoption,” the source said. “If they were running it to force a veto, they wouldn’t have made the revisions.”

The UK ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, insisted the revised text was still “robust” and argued the revisions were not a climbdown by the US. </s> UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil.

 It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member council since 2006 over North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs. The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of Pyongyang ally China and Russia. 

 A week ago, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for the "strongest possible" sanctions on North Korea and had sought an oil embargo on Pyongyang.

 On Monday, Haley said the United States was not looking for war with North Korea and that Pyongyang had "not yet passed the point of no return." 

 "If it agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. If it proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it," she told the Security Council after the council adopted the new sanctions. 

 Haley added that the latest resolution "would not have happened" without the strong relationship that had developed between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

 China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, urged North Korea to "take seriously the expectations and will of the international community" and called on all parties to remain "cool-headed" and not stoke tensions.

 A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. In negotiations on the latest resolution, diplomats said Russia had questioned what leverage the Security Council would have left if North Korea continued to conduct nuclear and missile testing. 

 "This is a compromise in order to get everybody on board," French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said of the draft ahead of the vote.

 Textiles were North Korea's second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.

 The resolution imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea's crude.

 A U.S. official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imported some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4 million barrels of crude oil. 

 

 'DUE PRICE'

 Trump has vowed not to allow North Korea to develop a nuclear missile capable of hitting the mainland United States.

 North Korea was condemned globally for its latest nuclear test on Sept. 3, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb. 

 Pyongyang warned the United States on Monday that it would pay a "due price" for spearheading efforts on U.N. sanctions.

 "The world will witness how the DPRK tames the U.S. gangsters by taking a series of actions tougher than they have ever envisaged," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. 

 DPRK stands for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. 

 The tensions have weighed on global markets, but there was some relief on Monday among investors that North Korea refrained from conducting another missile test this past weekend to celebrate 69 years since its founding.

 European Council on Foreign Relations U.N. expert Richard Gowan said the United States had "rather predictably been mugged by reality" during the most recent negotiations" on sanctions. He added it was arguable, however, that the high U.S. bar had pushed China and Russia to agree to more limited sanctions "relatively quickly." 

 "China and Russia were never going to accept the severe package of sanctions tabled by Haley," Gowan aid. "This sort of lengthy, incremental diplomatic bargaining may be the best it can hope for. The alternative is, after all, a slide towards war." 

 Traditionally, the United States has discreetly negotiated with China on any North Korea sanctions before expanding talks to the full council once the five veto powers have agreed. More recently, that has typically taken one to three months. 

 China supplies most of North Korea's crude. Chinese officials have privately expressed fears that an oil embargo could risk causing massive instability in its neighbor.

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang stressed the need for consensus over North Korea and maintaining peace.

 "I have said before that China agrees that the U.N. Security Council should make a further response and necessary actions with respect to North Korea's sixth nuclear test," he told reporters.

 Russia and China have been critical that there is too much focus on pressuring North Korea with sanctions and not enough debate about kick-starting talks with Pyongyang. 

 

 (Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Philip Wen in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney) </s> The United Nations Security Council passed new sanctions against North Korea but refrained from imposing the harshest options the White House proposed following a month of antagonistic military action by the regime of Kim Jong Un.

The unanimous decision to impose the new penalties follows North Korea’s recent nuclear test earlier this month ― its sixth and by far most powerful ― as well as a provocative test launch of a ballistic missile over Japan. The sanctions include capping imports of crude oil into North Korea, banning the sale of natural gas to the country and prohibiting the sale of North Korean textiles, the country’s second-biggest export, according to Reuters.

However, the penalties fall far short of those called for by the administration of President Donald Trump, which had requested a full cutoff of all oil supplies to Pyongyang, most of which are imported from China. The New York Times reports those demands were watered down following talks with Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council that hold veto power. </s> UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (APP): The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea’s latest missile test Friday, calling it “highly provocative”, less than a week after adopting its harshest sanctions to date against Pyongyang.

 “The Security Council stressed that these actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all U.N. member states,” the 15-member council said in a statement.

 The statement called on member states to fully implement Security Council resolutions and expressed a “commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation.”

 “The Security Council had brief consultations and it has agreed on a press statement … in which the council condemned the highly provocative launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador and current president of the Security Council, told reporters after the emergency meeting, requested by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.

 Friday’s test is the second launch of a missile over the Japanese mainland in a month, and is believed to have flown 3,700 km, falling into the Pacific Ocean some 2,200km off Cape Erimo, Hokkaido.

 Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Koro Bessho, Japan’s ambassador to the U.N., condemned the launch as “a grave threat” to his country’s security.

 “It is very clear that it’s a real threat to the peace and security of the world as a whole, and I’m sure the Security Council will be joining me in condemning what North Korea has been doing,” Bessho said before entering the closed-door meeting.

 Beyond the press statement, however, no further sanctions are expected from the council at this time. Diplomats instead spoke of the importance of implementing current measures, including those outlined by a resolution unanimously approved by the council on Monday. The tightened restrictions include a cap on North Korean oil imports and a total ban on textiles.
The United Nations Security Council approves new sanctions on North Korea, limiting refined petroleum imports and banning textile exports, in response to its recent nuclear test.