Tag: sanctions

Per 11 UN resolutions, NK required to abandon nuke, missile, and BCW programs in “complete, verifiable, irreversible manner.” KJU doles our morsels at his pace and demands reciprocal actions. Like a criminal asking the cop, “what will you give me for not robbing a bank today?” https://t.co/QAzKBa0c53

— Bruce Klingner (@BruceKlingner) October 9, 2018

This was a pretty blunt reaction by President Trump to South Korea’s proposal to drop sanctions on North Korea:

South Korea on Thursday walked back on a proposal to lift some of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea following U.S. President Donald Trump’s blunt retort that Seoul could “do nothing” without Washington’s approval.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had said on Wednesday that Seoul was considering lifting measures applied after a deadly attack in 2010 that killed 46 South Korean sailors. She cited the intent to create more diplomatic momentum for talks over North Korea’s nuclear program.

South Korean conservatives reacted with anger as well, and Kang’s ministry downplayed her comments later, saying in a statement that the government has yet to start a “full-fledged” review of sanctions, meaning no decision was imminent.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told a parliamentary audit on Thursday there has been no serious consideration given to lifting the sanctions and that doing so would be hard unless North Korea acknowledges responsibility for the 2010 attack. North Korea has fiercely denied it sank the Cheonan warship.  (………..)

“They won’t do that without our approval,” Trump said of the comments. “They do nothing without our approval.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but it appears there may be some friction coming out of the White House over President Moon’s willingness to push for dropping sanctions for little to nothing in return from North Korea.

The Moon administration says providing electricity, tap water not violating sanctions. The SK-NK mil agmt states inter-Korean road must be built by the year end & ensure "customs" in the E & W corridors. It imported NK coal many times. Do they not read the UNSCRs? #sanctions https://t.co/jLbqskBRd6

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) October 10, 2018

I still can’t think of one thing the Kim regime has done to really denuclearize or even pose less of a threat to the ROK.  The North Korean artillery and troops are still forward deployed on the DMZ.  Why doesn’t the Moon administration at least demand they withdraw North Korean troops 50 kilometers north of the DMZ for example before considering dropping sanctions?:

South Korea is reviewing whether to lift its sanctions against North Korea, Seoul’s top diplomat said Wednesday, amid a summit-driven reconciliatory mood.

“A review (of the issue) is under way” in consultation with other related government agencies, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told lawmakers during an annual parliamentary audit of the ministry. She did not elaborate.

The Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, is in charge of the issue.

Kang was responding to a question about whether the government is willing to lift the sanctions, called the May 24 Measure, imposed after the North’s deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in 2010.

The previous conservative administration of Lee Myung-bak introduced the sanctions to prevent almost all inter-Korean ties except for humanitarian assistance.

Despite some cross-border exchanges this year, the main elements of the sanctions, such as a ban on trade and investment, remain valid, overlapping with the U.N.-led punishments of Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programs.

Kang indicated that the government is considering the removal of the May 24 Measure largely as a symbolic step meant to help improve the Seoul-Pyongyang relations.

“It’s an important executive order. (We) have constantly reviewed it,” she pointed out. “As there are many (bilateral) sanctions overlapping the U.N. ones, it won’t necessarily mean the substantive lifting (of sanctions on the North).”  [Yonhap]

The dropping of the sanctions by the ROK just further signals to other countries that it is okay to trade with North Korea.  We already see various countries helping North Korea cheat on sanctions and South Korea is just giving them further reason why it is okay to cheat.

It looks like the Russian cargo ship suspected of sanctions violations was able to drop off its cargo somewhere before being investigated or this was all one big misunderstanding:

South Korea on Tuesday lifted a ban on the departure of a blacklisted Russian ship that it seized last week in the southern port city of Busan, following an investigation, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

The Sevastopol was barred from leaving the country on Sept. 28 under a U.N. sanctions resolution after entering the country’s biggest port for repairs on Aug. 13, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We have lifted the ban on the vessel as in our probe we didn’t found any violations committed by the ship. The cargo ship is now allowed to leave (South Korea) any time,” ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said over the phone.

The ministry said that “putting on hold” the ship’s departure is different from its detainment, which is a measure taken in cases where a vessel is confirmed to have engaged in illicit activities, such as any violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I would not be surprised if US authorities walked ROK authorities down to the dock to force them to take action:

South Korean authorities have seized a Russian-flagged ship and its crew in Busan on suspicion they are violating U.S. sanctions on North Korea, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

The seizure came after concern about the Seoul’s lax enforcement of international economic sanctions on North Korea amid improving inter-Korean relations.

It is still uncertain whether the seizure was an independent decision by South Korea or a request from the U.S.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link.

Personally I will believe a dawn of a new day has begun when North Korea’s nuclear material is being shipped out of the country.  I really do hope that happens, but I remain skeptical:

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday hailed the “dawn of a new day” with North Korea as the U.S. pushes diplomacy to denuclearize the regime.

Chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, Pompeo sounded a hopeful note on the diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

But he also called for strict enforcement of all U.N. Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang until denuclearization is achieved.

“Past diplomatic attempts to halt North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development were unsuccessful,” Pompeo said. “But now we’re at the dawn of a new day.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but despite all the flowery language, Secretary Pompeo is continuing to emphasize keeping the sanctions in place on the Kim regime.

Moon says #SouthKorea can trade rice for #NorthKorea's coal, raw material, rare earths. But coal, titanium, iron, gold, nickel, etc are all banned. But he already violated sanctions by importing #NK coal, providing oil to #NK, etc, w no consequences. So he'll press on. https://t.co/dCL5dzgK6x

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 12, 2018

While the Moon administration continues to play nice with North Korea, the Trump administration continues to add new sanctions over the Kim regime’s nuclear program:

The United States on Thursday sanctioned two companies in China and Russia for allegedly facilitating North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The Department of the Treasury also sanctioned a North Korean individual in the latest set of sanctions aimed at denuclearizing the regime.

Thursday’s action particularly targets the revenue earned for the Pyongyang government by North Korean IT workers overseas.

The Treasury said it is sanctioning China Silver Star, which is “nominally a Chinese IT company, but in reality … managed and controlled by North Koreans.”

Also being sanctioned is the firm’s CEO, Jong Song-hwa, and its Russia-based front company, Volasys Silver Star.

“These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it appears that the Trump administration is not ready to sign up for “pretend denuclearization“.

It looks like the US will be making sure that all inter-Korean cooperation is being done by existing regulations:

The United Nations Command (UNC) for the first time disapproved plans for an inter-Korean railway inspection, amid a deadlock in denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S.

The plan was for a South Korean train to travel up to the North’s northwestern city of Sinuiju so officials of the Koreas could inspect the condition of the tracks in the North from Aug. 22 to 27.

The UNC holds authority to approve personnel and supplies crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

The government has stated the inspections do not go against sanctions imposed on the North by the U.N. and the U.S.

The UNC initially cited the reason for disapproval as South Korea not notifying it of its plan 48 hours in advance.

A unification ministry official said this was likely not the issue.

“There were many instances in which plans that were announced less than 48 hours in advance were approved,” he told reporters, Thursday.

The UNC, in an official statement, said it “required South Korea to submit details of the planned visit.” Calling for additional details is seen as unprecedented.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but considering the duplicity shown by the Moon administration allowing the North Koreans to violate sanctions this is probably a wise move.