But will it do any good?
Editorial note: Without a doubt North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un has the whole world's attention. You can't go a day without some news flash regarding this bully and brat in North Korea, who throws parties honoring himself! Looks like from latest reports that "big brother' China decided to step up and tell this pit bull, to stop testing ICBM's according to published reports today;
REU: China vows to enforce UN curbs on N. Korea as Trump praises cohesion
BEIJING - China will pay the biggest price from the new U.N. sanctions against North Korea because of its close economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
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AFP: China holds war games as North Korea tensions spike
The Chinese navy and air force flexed their muscles in live-fire drills in seas adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, the defence ministry said, amid regional tensions over North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weaponry.
The following stories are press releases regarding the sanctions on North Korea...
UN PRESS RELEASE: Dangerous Rhetoric on Use of Nuclear Weapons Further Exacerbates Global Challenges, Secretary-General Tells Hiroshima Peace Ceremony
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 8/ 6/ 17
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the Peace Ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, today:
It is a profound honour to pay my deep respects to the victims of the atomic bomb and to the Hibakusha and the city of Hiroshima for your fortitude and example.
In 1946, when eminent personalities were invited to share their ideas for rebuilding Hiroshima, the distinguished Hibakusha novelist Yōko Ōta said her vision was “to interweave dream and reality in harmony and enrich citizens’ lives”. As the world looks to Hiroshima today, we see a city built on resilience and hope. Your determination for peace is an inspiration to the world.
We live in challenging times. The continued presence of some 15,000 nuclear weapons — along with dangerous rhetoric regarding their use — exacerbates these threats.
Despite negative trends, there has been a major development in 2017. Last month, Member States of the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This measure is the result of a global campaign focused on the unacceptability of the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. Hiroshima’s message of peace and the heroic efforts of Hibakushas have reminded the world of the devastating humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and have served as an invaluable part of this global campaign.
Yet, our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons remains far from reality. The States possessing nuclear weapons have a special responsibility to undertake concrete and irreversible steps in nuclear disarmament. There are many paths to a nuclear-weapon-free world. I appeal to all States to intensify their efforts to contribute to the shared vision in their own ways.
A global vision requires a global effort — and I thank the people of Hiroshima for continuing to spread your message of peace and hope. The United Nations stands with you in our shared pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons.
US MISSION TO THE UN: FACT SHEET: Resolution 2371 (2017) Strengthening Sanctions on North Korea
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 8/ 5/ 17
Resolution 2371 (2017), adopted unanimously by the United Nations Security Council on August 5, 2017, strengthens UN sanctions on North Korea in response to its two intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests conducted on July 3, 2017 and July 28, 2017. As such, this resolution sends a clear message to North Korea that the Security Council is united in condemning North Korea’s violations and demanding North Korea give up its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Resolution 2371 (2017) includes the strongest sanctions ever imposed in response to a ballistic missile test. These measures target North Korea’s principal exports, imposing a total ban on all exports of coal (North Korea’s largest source of external revenue), iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. Banning these exports will prevent North Korea from earning over a $1 billion per year of hard currency that would be redirected to its illicit programs. North Korea earns approximately $3 billion per year from export revenues. Additional sanctions target North Korea’s arms smuggling, joint ventures with foreign companies, banks, and other sources of revenue.
Resolution 2371 (2017) includes the following key elements:
Condemns North Korea July 3 and July 28 ballistic missile tests in the strongest terms, and reaffirms North Korea’s obligations not to conduct any further nuclear tests or launches that use ballistic missile technology, to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program, and to abandon all other WMD programs.
Imposes several full sectoral bans on exports North Korea uses to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, namely:
A ban on its largest export, coal, representing a loss to North Korea of over $401 million in revenues per year;
A ban on iron and iron ore exports, worth roughly $250 million per year;
A ban on seafood exports, worth roughly $300 million in revenue each year; and
A ban on lead and lead ore exports, worth roughly $110 million per year;
Imposes additional restrictions on North Korea’s ability to generate revenue and access the international financial system, by:
Adding new sanctions designations against North Korean individuals and entities that support the country’s nuclear and missile programs, including the state-owned Foreign Trade Bank (FTB), which acts as North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank, while protecting diplomatic, consular, and humanitarian activities.
Prohibiting all new joint ventures or cooperative commercial entities between North Korea and other nations, as well as ban additional investment in existing ones.
Banning countries from allowing in additional numbers of North Korean laborers who will earn revenue for the illicit programs.
Requests the Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee to identify additional conventional arms-related and proliferation-related items to be banned for transfer to/from North Korea.
Enables the Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee to designate vessels tied to violations of Security Council resolutions and prohibit their international port access.
Takes steps to improve sanctions enforcement, including by asking Interpol to publish Special Notices on listed North Koreans for travel ban purposes.
Provides additional analytical resources to the UN’s Panel of Experts to enhance its capacity to monitor sanctions enforcement.
Regrets North Korea’s massive diversion of its scarce resources toward its development of nuclear weapons and a number of expensive ballistic missile programs and expresses its deep concern at the grave hardship to which the people in North Korea are subjected;
Includes sanctions exemptions to make sure these measures do not impede foreign diplomatic activities in North Korea or legitimate humanitarian assistance.
Reaffirms the Council's support for the Six Party Talks, calls for their resumption, reiterates its support for commitments made by the Six Parties, and reiterates the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.
Expresses the Council's determination to take further significant measures if North Korea conducts another nuclear test or ballistic missile launch.
This resolution has two annexes. These are:
An annex of 9 North Korean individuals operating abroad as representatives of designated entities designated for targeted sanctions (asset freeze and travel ban);
Another annex of 4 North Korea commercial entities designated for an asset freeze
US MISSION TO THE UN: Explanation of Vote at the Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2371 Strengthening Sanctions on North Korea
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 8/ 5/ 17
Thank you, Mr. President.
Exactly one month ago, I came before members of the Security Council and declared it was a dark day for the world because of the dangerous and irresponsible actions of North Korea. Almost one week ago, I said the days of talking were over and it was time to act.
Today the full Security Council has come together to put the North Korean dictator on notice. And this time, the Council has matched its words and actions.
The resolution we’ve passed is a strong, united step toward holding North Korea accountable for its behavior. Today, the Security Council increased the penalty of North Korea’s ballistic missile activity to a whole new level.
North Korea’s irresponsible and careless acts have just proved to be quite costly to the regime.
This resolution is the single largest economic sanctions package ever leveled against the North Korean regime. The price the North Korean leadership will pay for its continued nuclear and missile development will be the loss of one-third of its exports and hard currency.
This is the most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation.
These sanctions will cut deep, and in doing so, will give the North Korean leadership a taste of the deprivation they have chosen to inflict on the North Korean people.
Nuclear and ballistic missile development is expensive. The revenues the North Korean government receives are not going towards feeding its people.
Instead, the North Korean regime is literally starving its people and enslaving them in mines and factories in order to fund these illegal nuclear programs.
Even as famine looms on the horizon; even as the regime continues to ask for international assistance to cope with devastating floods and a possible drought later this year; their displays of aggression take precedence over their own people.
Even as we respond to the North Korean nuclear threat, the United States will continue to stand up for the human dignity and rights of the North Korean people.
It is the continued suffering of the North Korean people that should remind the Security Council that, while this resolution is a significant step forward, it is not nearly enough.
The threat of an outlaw, nuclearized North Korean dictatorship remains. The unimaginable living conditions of so many of the North Korean people are unchanged.
The North Korean regime continues to show that widespread violations of human rights go hand in hand with threats to international peace and security.
I thank each and every one of my colleagues who worked so hard to bring this resolution to a vote. I have previously pointed out that China has a critical role to play on matters related to North Korea. I want to personally thank the Chinese delegation for the important contributions they made to this resolution.
While the Security Council has done good work, the members of the Security Council – and all UN Member States – must do more to increase the pressure on North Korea.
We must work together to fully implement the sanctions we imposed today and those imposed in past resolutions.
The step we take together today is an important one. But we should not fool ourselves into thinking we have solved the problem. Not even close. The North Korean threat has not left us. It is rapidly growing more dangerous. We’ve seen two ICBMs fired in just the last month. Further action is required.
The United States is taking – and will continue to take – prudent defensive measures to protect ourselves and our allies. Our annual joint military exercises, for instance, are transparent, and defense-oriented. They have been carried out regularly and openly for nearly 40 years. They will continue.
Our goal remains a stable Korean peninsula, at peace, without nuclear weapons. We want only security and prosperity for all nations – including North Korea.
Until then, this resolution and prior ones will be implemented to the fullest to maximize pressure on North Korea to change its ways.
Today is a good day at the United Nations. We will need many more such days in order to peacefully resolve the crisis that has been created by North Korea’s dangerous and illegal actions. As I’ve said before, time is short. But today we have taken one step in the right direction.
Thank you, again, to my colleagues and their teams for their action and support towards sending a strong message to the North Korean regime.
WH: The White House share a news article on the webpage from The Washington Examine dated 8/ 8/ 17 titled: “Donald Trump and Nikki Haley chalk up a victory on North Korea and China”
The United Nations imposed significant new sanctions on North Korea last weekend, in response to the dictatorship’s repeated ballistic missile tests. Kim Jong Un’s regime will be banned from exporting goods and services and cut off from foreign investors, at least to an extent.
This combined effort to confront what is, among other things, the foremost national security threat to the United States, is a big win for President Trump.
Deploying diplomacy backed by the credible use of force, he and his UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, were able to rally the entire 15-member UN Security Council into concerted action. While these sanctions won’t alone bring Kim Jong Un to serious negotiations, they will cause him real pain. Analysts believe the sanctions will cost North Korea around a third of its $3 billion total export market.
While North Korea’s transgressions — it’s evil, so let’s say it plainly — are undeniable, this sanctions vote was far from simple. It required China to change. Beijing would not have done so without believing that Trump might take military action against North Korea. Up until now, China's actions against Kim have been limited. Allowing this vote to pass the United Nations Security Council, where it has a veto, however, demonstrates that when Trump makes a military threat, China takes him seriously.
Trump’s approach has changed everything and shown his ability to do what others have not. Supported by Nikki Haley, Trump has, on China and North Korea at least, strengthened the foundations of American diplomacy. The combination of hard and soft power is important. Authoritarian regimes such as China's are unimpressed if international agreements don't have teeth as well as smiles.
This diplomatic success is also crucial in the precedent it sets. With Iran rapidly advancing its own ballistic missile program, Washington must ensure that hostile adversaries are aware that ballistic missiles offer only existential danger, not security. If North Korea’s ballistic missile program is allowed to rise unchallenged, Iran and others will pursue that technology as their first priority. Why wouldn’t they? If North Korea gains regime security from the possession of ballistic missiles, other regimes will seek the same safety. The stakes are high, considering Iran’s penchant for theologically rooted expansionism and the political sectarianism that defines Middle Eastern politics. ( read full article here)
IN OTHER WORLD NEWS...
UN NEWS CENTER:South Sudan: Deployment of UN-mandated regional protection force begins
8 August 2017 – The phased deployment in South Sudan of the United Nations-authorized regional protection force has begun, freeing existing peacekeepers to extend their presence to conflict-affected areas beyond the capital, Juba.
UN chief urges Venezuelans to ease tensions and engage in negotiations
7 August 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is closely following recent developments in Venezuela, his Spokesperson told reporters today.
US MISSION TO THE UN: Press Release: Ambassador Haley on the Latest UN Report on Massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 8/ 7/ 17
Last week, the UN released another disturbing report on the violence in the Kasai provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During March and June of this year, UN investigators confirmed 251 people were killed, 62 of whom were children, with nearly half being under the age of eight. Witnesses told the investigators they saw people being mutilated, burned alive, and hacked to death. The investigators also learned that local Congolese security forces supported, and sometimes even led, the attacks.
Responding to the report, Ambassador Nikki Haley said, “The latest UN report sadly documents something we already know: innocent men, women, and children are being brutally killed in the Kasais, and Congolese authorities are doing nothing to stop it. Until the DRC government shows it can responsibly protect its own people from horrific acts of violence and hold murderers accountable for their crimes, the international community should question any efforts by the Congolese to seek representation in organizations like the Human Rights Council.”
The United States has already called on the DRC government to cooperate fully with an independent team of experts recently mandated by the Human Rights Council to investigate human rights abuses in the Kasais.
Related article
UN NEWS CENTER 'Don't turn a blind eye' to dire situation of children in DR Congo's Kasai region – UNICEF
7 August 2017 – The world must not turn a blind eye to the dire situation of children and families in the Grand Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today, stressing that nothing can justify terrible acts of abuse against women and children.
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Psalm 149:4 NKJV
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