U.N. Resolution Imposes Sanctions on N. Korea
Oct. 14, 2006 — -- The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution that will impose harsh sanctions against North Korea just six days after Kim Jong Il's rogue regime declared that it conducted an underground nuclear test.
The Security Council said the North Korean test amounted to a "clear threat to international peace and security."
Speaking from the South Lawn of the White House after the Security Council vote, President Bush applauded the sanctions.
"The message today … says to the leader of North Korea that the world is united in our opposition to his nuclear weapons plans," Bush said.
Immediately after the vote, North Korean Ambassador Pak Gil Yon addressed the Council and rejected the U.N. vote, calling it a "gangster-like action."
"This clearly shows the Security Council has completely lost its impartiality," he said, "as it persists in applying double standards in its work."
Resolution 1718 calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons completely and irreversibly, as well as its programs of biological and chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missile programs.
The U.N. sanctions further mandate an embargo on major military hardware such as tanks, warships, combat aircraft and missiles to North Korea. To appease the Russian and Chinese delegations, however, the United States dropped its opposition to an all-out ban on conventional weapons.
The resolution also rules out the possibility of military intervention -- a point critical to Russia and China, whose opposition to the initial drafts delayed the vote.
China, in particular, objected to a provision that would have allowed for the search of all cargo ships headed into our out of North Korea. The Chinese delegation maintained that intrusive searches could provoke further conflict in the region.
The final resolution will allow for vessels to be searched "when necessary."
Yon told the Security Council that nuclear weapons are necessary to protect North Korea from the danger of war with the United States, and that the Bush administration has responded to North Korea's "patient and sincere" efforts with sanctions and blockades. He said North Korea sees continued pressure from the United States as a declaration of war.
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