New sanctions still provide loopholes for N. Korea

By Kang Ji-Hyun

The latest sanctions on North Korea will not stop its illicit activities overseas to earn hard currency as they still provide loopholes for the reclusive country to evade sanctions, analysts said Wednesday.

They said that the new measures may delay the completion of its nuclear capabilities but won't discourage North Korean leader Kim Jong-un from giving up his nuclear ambitions.

The views came a day after the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed the new resolution that imposed a ban on the country's textile exports and capped imports of crude oil.

Balbina Hwang, a visiting professor at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies, said that the new resolution is not strong enough to rein in the Kim regime.

"The latest sanctions provide an important rallying position for the international community to make a strong and unified statement to North Korea that its pursuit of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems is unacceptable," she said.

"However, these new sanctions are almost certainly insufficient to cause the Kim regime to reverse its nuclear ambitions, the same as sanctions in general, no matter how strong," she added.

She pointed out that these fall short of the stringent demands called for by the United States, and thus the weakened resolution still provides enough "loopholes" for those who wish to continue to do business with North Korea.

"Ultimately, increased sanctions will not end the North's nuclear ambitions, although perhaps they may serve to restrict or slow down the North's access to technology and materials necessary for the advancement of its nuclear arsenal," she said.

The U.S. pushed for a complete oil embargo on the North but its attempt was thwarted at the last minute due to opposition from China and Russia, two allies of the outcast country.

Also, under the new resolution, all UN members are asked to inspect ships going in and out of the North's ports but they are not authorized to use force on ships that do not comply, as the U.S. had originally proposed.

Sean King, senior vice president of Park Strategies, a New York-based political consultancy, echoed the view, saying, "Regime change is the only answer because the North will never give up its nukes but these sanctions won't result in regime change, or collapse."

He stressed that the most effective sanction would be a complete oil embargo.

"We must deny Pyongyang hard currency and whatever it needs to function at every turn," he added. "In addition to China's banks enabling the North to continue its weapons programs, the U.S. should immediately sanction and deny U.S. dollar access to any Chinese oil company that supplies Pyongyang."

North Korea's cybercrime

Tara O, adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum CSIS, said that the new sanction miss certain areas that help North Korea obtain hard currency, such as cybercrime.

"North Korea was linked to the cyberattacks that targeted banks of Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ecuador, with the Central Bank of Bangladesh losing $81 million," she said.

"Also, North Korea's General Reconnaissance Bureau is linked to WannaCry, a ransomware that infected the accounts of 300,000 people in 150 countries, with demands for ransom in Bitcoin. So this is yet another arena North Korea is emphasizing to acquire foreign currency."

However, some experts said that the latest sanctions show meaningful improvement by including a new measure that will actually help deter North Korea.

They pointed out that because of the earlier resolution floated by the U.S., the new resolution is now seen as a step backwards but it is misleading.

Stephan Haggard, director of the Korea-Pacific Program at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, said that it is important to note that China has essentially agreed to completely cut off North Korea's largest manufactured export.

"China is clearly upset with North Korea, and the last two resolutions have shown exactly how deeply (it is)," he said.

"North Korea is probably already feeling some distress, but has been able to finance its deficits by drawing down reserves, trade credits and other means," he said. "But the sanctions are clearly pushing North Korea into an unsustainable economic position."

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