North Korea Threatens To Close “New York Channel” Over Sanctions On Kim Jong-un
I doubt these sanctions will do much considering how North Korea is skilled at avoiding sanctions largely because of Chinese aid, but it is always fun to watch the Kim regime squirm a bit:
North Korea said Monday it will end a diplomatic communication channel with the United States and hinted at harsher punishment for Americans detained in the country in retaliation for U.S. sanctions that target leader Kim Jong Un.
The U.S. government last week imposed penalties on Kim and 10 other top officials for alleged human rights abuses. North Korea is already sanctioned because of its nuclear weapons program, but it was the first time that Kim has been personally sanctioned. The North called the sanctions tantamount to a war declaration.
On Monday, the North’s state media said it told the United States it will terminate contact through a U.N. channel in New York that allowed diplomats to communicate.
The New York channel refers to a method for North Korea’s U.N. diplomats to communicate with U.S. diplomats in New York. This is needed because the countries don’t have diplomatic ties and their animosities have deepened because of the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
The North also said it informed Washington that it will handle all issues between the two countries according to an unspecified wartime law, including Americans detained in North Korea, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
South Korean media have suggested that North Korea might use the wartime law to hand out harsher punishments on Americans detained in the North. [ABC News]
You can read more at the link, but if they do increase the punishment on the two detained Americans that is once again the risk they took by traveling to North Korea in the first place. I feel bad for their families, but US foreign policy with North Korea should not be compromised because of idiots who decided to travel to North Korea knowing fell well the risk of being detained.
