Sun Rises, Flowers Bloom, U.N. Fails to Pass Effective N. Korea Resolution
[Update: I should clarify that this isn’t final and passed by the Security Council. This is leaked draft language from the agreed text.]
My hopes that a long negotiation would mean tougher language were not realized. China was more determined to shield North Korea from consequences than we were determined to impose them. Excerpts below the fold, with many thanks to a reader and friend.
How is this weak? In a nutshell, the language on sanctions and interdiction is not mandatory, and Chapter VII is not invoked. Now, it’s up to Obama to find his inner Churchill, continue toward a hard financial squeeze on Kim Jong Il’s palace economy — and any third-country entities assisting it — and enlist the help of those allies who are willing to help us.
Feel free to insert your own “Hans Brix” link in the comments.
In no particular order —
The 15-member council met on Wednesday to consider the draft, which could come to a vote on Friday, diplomats said.
The Security Council,
Condemns in the strongest terms the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK on 25 May 2009 … in violation and flagrant disregard of its relevant resolutions,
Demands that the DPRK not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology;
Decides that the DPRK shall suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme and in this context re-establish its pre-existing commitments to a moratorium on missile launches;
Demands that the DPRK immediately comply fully with its obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 1718 (2006);
Decides that the DPRK shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner….
Decides that the measures in paragraph 8(b) of resolution 1718 (2006) shall also apply to all arms and related materiel, as well as to financial transactions, technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of such arms or materiel;
Decides that the measures in paragraph 8(a) of resolution 1718 (2006) shall also apply to all arms and related materiel, as well as to financial transactions, technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of such arms, except for small arms and light weapons and their related materiel…
Calls upon all States to inspect, in accordance with their national legal authorities and consistent with international law, all cargo to and from the DPRK, in their territory, including seaports and airports, if the State concerned has information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited…
Calls upon all Member States to inspect vessels, with the consent of the flag State, on the high seas, if they have information that provides reasonable grounds to believe that the cargo of such vessels contains items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited…
Decides that Member States shall prohibit the provision by their nationals or from their territory of bunkering services, such as provision of fuel or supplies, or other servicing of vessels, to DPRK vessels if they have information that provides reasonable grounds to believe they are carrying items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited … unless provision of such services is necessary for humanitarian purposes…
Calls upon Member States … to prevent the provision of financial services … that could contribute to the DPRK’s nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related, or other weapons of mass destruction-related programs or activities, including by freezing any financial or other assets or resources on their territories…
Calls upon all Member States and international financial and credit institutions not to enter into new commitments for grants, financial assistance, or concessional loans to the DPRK, except for humanitarian and developmental purposes…
Calls upon all Member States not to provide public financial support for trade with the DPRK … where such financial support could contribute to the DPRK’s nuclear-related or ballistic missile-related or other WMD-related programs or activities;
Help us Stuart Levey, you’re our only hope!
UNSC Resolutions are like new year’s resolutions: the intent may be earnest–although often it’s only half-hearted at best–but the application is short-lived. In three months they will become nothing more than a faint memory.
Well said, SYL.
China will never punish North Korea.
China will never publicly rebuke North Korea, but privately it may quash any activities deemed contrary to Chinese interests. An example is that Chinese-Dutch billionaire who was tossed intor prison for trying to help North Korea transform Shinuiju into an export zone. I don’t think China actually wants to see North Korea go nuclear, and that is exactly why the US should sit back and let China reign in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Our tax, spend and borrow policy has substantially weakened our leverage with the PRC. They may be the ones making demands before long.
If China were smart, they would build their East Asian policy around the idea that North Korea is going to collapse one day – no matter what. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe ten years from now. But it is going to collapse.
Given that, China should try to leverage everybody else to get the best deal it can for post-collapse and then help bring about a collapse that aims to prevent the worst case scenario – which is North Korea striking out against the South (and possibly Japan) as it implodes.
China has the leverage. It could bring about major signed and sealed commitments of long-term financial and material support for North Korea post-collapse.
It might even be able to swing a deal on Chinese troops being brought into the country – possibly with South Korean ones.
I’d think it could almost assuredly get a commitment that the US would not send troops above the 38th parallel – which I’m sure is something China desires.
By not seeking to cut a good deal for itself before the collapse, China is forfeiting assurance that major economic concessions will be made by two of the nations best able to help East Asia deal with the fallout of a collapse – the US and Japan.
China is basically pumping in lost resources delaying a collapse that will still happen at some point and making it harder to deal with that eventuality.
It’s short sighted.
thought you’d get a kick out of this article by David Rothkopf:
“Having said that, watching the UN continue its kabuki theater concerning North Korea makes me want to shut the place down, convert it to condos and remit the funds to the former member states. Even in a down New York real estate market it is almost certain to be a better return on investment for the dollars poured into that white elephant on the East River than “outcomes” like the proposed sanctions on Pyongyang.”
HAHA