The United Nations Security Council's sanctions committee has slapped a new set of sanctions on North Korea in accordance with Resolution 1874, which the council adopted June 12 in response to the North's second nuclear test on May 25. After the committee's decision July 16, Mr. Fazil Corman, deputy permanent representative of Turkey to the U.N. who chairs the committee, said, "Today's position demonstrates our unity and resolve on this critical issue of international peace and security" and stressed that the decision binds all 192 U.N. member states.
Inadequate implementation of the U.N. sanctions following the North's first nuclear test in October 2006 may have led to its second nuclear test. To prevent further nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, it is important for the international community to faithfully execute the new sanctions. The inspection of cargo aboard North Korean ships as called for by Resolution 1874 has already had some effect. The North Korean ship Kang Nam 1, suspected of carrying illicit materials, returned to North Korea after the U.S. Navy tracked it for more than a week.
The committee has imposed a travel ban on five North Korean officials — two officials of the General Bureau of Atomic Energy (GBAE), another nuclear official and two trading firm officials — and frozen the assets of GBAE and four trading firms, in addition to the three entities subjected to an asset freeze in late April. It also has banned the trade of two weapons-related materials to and from North Korea. This is the first time the U.N. has imposed a travel ban on North Korean individuals.