Economic Sanctions Against NK: Do we need more of it?

[xomputer]

Economic sanctions are imposed against North Korea for four primary reasons:
(1) North Korea is seen as posing a threat to the security of East Asia
(2) North Korea is a state sponsor or supporter of international terrorism
(3) North Korea is a Marxist-Leninist state, with a Communist government
(4) North Korea has been found by the United State Department to have engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Moreover, the United States has also taken steps to isolate the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia for counterfeiting and money-laundering activities, actions North Korea has characterized as attacks against it.
In accordance with U.S. law, the United States limits some trade, denies trade in dual-use goods and services, limits foreign aid, and opposes entry into or support from international financial institutions.
Here' s one thing I learnt about NK in Game Theory class. Game theory can be applied to study actions (both political or economic) between 'rational' countries. However, rationality does not exist in NK, so it is very tough to study NK's actions. Not only do we have a very imperfect information about NK, making it a very complex Bayesian game, NK is simply very irrational.
So what do we do with irrational parties? Simply do not negotiate with them.
Negotiations with them is impossible. The only answer to irrationality would be economic/physical/political sanctions and threats.
The day of NK rocket launch is nearing. Kim Jong Un claims that the 'satellite' will be launched next week, around April 12-14.
Although the international society have been pressuring the NK regime into aborting the launch, I believe the sanctions on NK was insufficient to thwart their efforts.
What we need is stronger sanctions. Although it is very unfortunate that the North Korean people are starving, persuading them to abandon nuclear weapons for food is definitely not the answer to the problem. Although the food may ease the starvation problem for a temporary period, it will extend and justify the dictatorship in NK for a longer time, which will in turn backfire at the NK people for a extended period of cruelty from the totalitarian government.

 

[Artevelde]

I agree a tougher approach to North Korea is necessary.

 

[Steelplate]

What do we do with irrational parties? We need to draft Rush Limbaugh into military service, drop mass amounts of AM radios into their population centers and let the outraged propaganda begin where it can do some good.

 

[Artevelde]

No, I think that frankly the North Koreans should be warned - privately, not publicly - that they will not be allowed to fire that missile and that if it is being fuelled it will be destroyed.

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim's rocket launch backfires...

UN Security Council Rebukes N. Korea, Tightens Sanctions
January 22, 2013 — The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution expanding and strengthening sanctions against North Korea. Tuesday’s action was a response to Pyongyang’s launch of a long-range rocket last month - a violation of existing U.N. resolutions.

Tuesday’s vote follows weeks of intense negotiations between the United States and China. The two powers reached a deal and presented a draft to the other 13 members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday, and the measure moved quickly to a vote. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the resolution reflects the unity of the Security Council. “We believe that today’s resolution is a firm, united and appropriate response to North Korea’s reckless act, and that strict enforcement of sanctions is essential to address the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs,” Rice said. In addition to condemning the December 12 rocket launch, the resolution imposes new travel bans and asset freezes on several North Korean individuals and companies. Also sanctioned are the Pyongyang government’s space agency and a domestic bank that facilitates weapons-related transactions.

China’s Ambassador Li Baodong welcomed adoption of the resolution and urged the parties to use it to make progress on the political and diplomatic fronts and avoid an escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula. “The message is very strong and clear from this resolution. That is, all stakeholders should work together, should talk to each other, and address concerns to consultations and to have early resumption of Six Party Talks,” Li said. North Korea quit the Six Party Talks with South Korea, China, Japan, the United States and Russia in April 2009, after the Security Council criticized Pyongyang for a rocket launch believed to have used long-range ballistic missile technology.

South Korean Ambassador Kim Sook said Pyongyang should abandon its nuclear-weapons program and missile technology, saying it will not be tolerated by the international community, and he urged North Korea to end its international isolation. “If North Korea tries to do everything to become the responsible member of the international community, the Republic of Korea stands ready to help them in every way possible to facilitate their inclusion in the international community,” Kim said. In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is a former South Korean foreign minister, called on the North to refrain from any further rocket launches or nuclear tests. He he urged all parties to resume dialogue as the only way to achieve denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and peace in the region.

Source

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Lil' Kim gettin' uppity again...

North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.
Thu January 24, 2013 - U.S. secretary of defense says predicting a North Korean test is difficult; Pyongyang says it plans a new nuclear test and further long-range rocket launches; It vows an "all-out action" against the United States, which it calls its "sworn enemy"; North Korea is upset by a recent U.N. Security Council resolution, an analyst says

North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are a part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States. The North's National Defense Commission said the moves would feed into an "upcoming all-out action" that would target the United States, "the sworn enemy of the Korean people." Carried by the state media, the comments are the latest defiant flourish from the reclusive North Korean regime, whose young leader, Kim Jong Un, has upheld his father's policy of pursuing a military deterrent and shrugging off international pressure.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday there are no "outward indications" that North Korea is about to conduct a nuclear test, but he admitted it would be hard to determine that in advance. "They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that makes it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," he said in a Pentagon press conference. "We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behavior," Panetta said, but he added that the United States is "fully prepared" to deal with any provocations.

North Korea's statement followed a U.N. Security Council resolution submitted by the United States and approved Tuesday that condemned a recent rocket launch by the North and expanded existing sanctions. Pyongyang's threatening statement "should have been the expected outcome" from the U.N. decision, said Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group covering Northeast Asia. "I think they are completely outraged and insulted by it," he said. North Korea's statement prompted France and Great Britain to express exasperation with the secretive regime.

Britain's mission to the United Nations called on North Korean leaders to "refrain from further provocation." France said it "deplores" North Korea's statement, telling its leaders that they need not to threaten, but instead to work toward dismantling their nuclear and missile programs. In addition to Panetta's statement, the United States added sanctions against more North Korean bank officials and a business linked to the regime's nuclear weapons program.

More North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S. - CNN.com

See also:

North Korea warn South over UN sanctions
25 January 2013 - North Korea referred to the government in Seoul as "the puppet group of traitors"

North Korea has issued another warning, a day after announcing plans for a third nuclear test. In a statement, Pyongyang pledged "physical counter-measures" against South Korea if it participated in the UN sanctions regime. The threat came 24 hours after North Korea said it would proceed with a "high-level" nuclear test in a move aimed at "arch-enemy" the US.

The White House condemned the move, labelling it "needlessly provocative". North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests in the past, in 2006 and 2009. It gave no time-frame for its third test. Its announcement followed the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution condemning North Korea's recent rocket launch and extending sanctions. North Korea says its rocket launch was for the sole purpose of putting a satellite into orbit; the US and North Korea's neighbours say it was a test of long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions.

'Declaration of war'

The second warning in two days came in a statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, carried by KCNA news agency. "If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the UN 'sanctions', the DPRK (North Korea) will take strong physical counter-measures against it," it said, referring to the South Korean leadership. "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us." The UN resolution, passed on Tuesday, expanded existing sanctions against Pyongyang that were imposed after its previous nuclear tests and rocket launches.

Washington has also expanded its own sanctions against North Korea, with targets including a Hong Kong-based trading company and two North Korean bank officials based in Beijing. On Thursday, it spoke out against a third nuclear test. "Further provocations would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile programme is doing nothing to help the North Korean people," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. Both North Korea's previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches.

BBC News - North Korea warn South over UN sanctions

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim not happy `bout sanctions...

N. Korea Threatens 'Merciless' War
January 29, 2013 - North Korea issued new threats against the South and its allies on Tuesday, saying it views a recent expansion of United Nations Security Council sanctions as an act of war.

In a commentary filled with typically inflammatory language, the official Korean Central News Agency promised "merciless retaliatory blows" and a "grand and just war for national reunification" in response to the sanctions.

The commentary did not mention the nuclear test threatened by North Korea last week following the unanimous Security Council decision, which punished Pyongyang for a December rocket launch.

South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday again denounced the nuclear test threat. It urged its communist neighbor to "pay heed to the continued warnings from the international community and not push ahead with any further provocations."

Seoul on Tuesday announced the creation of a special task force to monitor North Korea's nuclear test site. Recent satellite photos suggest increased activity at the site. South Korean officials have said they believe a test could be carried out at any time.

North Korea also conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 following U.N. condemnations of earlier long-range rocket launches. It is barred from conducting nuclear or ballistic missile tests under international sanctions.

Source

 

[RoadVirus]

The World hasn't been paying attention to Kim Nutball Jr in a while, so he's throwing a hissy fit.

 

[NYcarbineer]

If invading Iraq was necessary, then invading North Korea is necessary. All the same conditions that made Iraq 'necessary' are in place in NK.

 

[waltky]

Semi-official Chinese newspaper urges gov't. to get tough with No. Korea...

China Urged to Take Tough Stance if N. Korea Conducts Nuclear Test
February 06, 2013 - An editorial in a prominent semi-official Chinese newspaper is urging China's government to take a tough stance against North Korea if Pyongyang follows through on its threat to conduct a third nuclear test.

The editorial Wednesday in the Global Times says North Korea must pay a "heavy price" if it conducts the test. The column says China's government should make clear in advance that the aid it sends to Pyongyang will be reduced. China is North Korea's top ally and trading partner and supplies the impoverished country with crucial economic and humanitarian assistance. China also is seen as one of the few nations able to influence Pyongyang.

U.N. Resolution

Last month, North Korea vowed to soon conduct a "high-level" nuclear test after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution tightening sanctions against the communist state. The 15-member body was responding to a December long-range rocket launch that North Korea was banned from conducting under prior U.N. sanctions. China backed the resolution after saying any U.N. response to the rocket launch should be "prudent and moderate." The resolution expands asset freezes and travel bans on some North Korean entities. An Asia analyst at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, James Schoff, said. that by responding harshly to another nuclear test, China may be trying to show it is unified with the West in opposing such actions by Pyongyang.

He said the U.S. and other members of the international community have been influential in pressuring China to be tougher on North Korea, but that in the end Beijing will do what is best for Beijing. "China’s government will make decisions based on its own perceptions of its interests, Schoff said. "But clearly this next nuclear test, coming on the heels of the rocket launch which was pretty successful, the expectations are that this could be a fairly large nuclear test and if that’s the case the combination will be seen as a real kind of watershed moment, a turning point in this slow evolution of North Korea becoming a nuclear state, a nuclear weapons state in its own mind."

Kerry Talks with China

Earlier this week, the new U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, talked with China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi about North Korea facing "further" sanctions under the latest U.N. resolution, if it carries out another nuclear test. Schoff said if China supports new sanctions, it will want to do so in a way that minimizes the economic impact on Pyongyang. "The more desperate you make North Korea and the weaker they become economically, you’ve pretty much cut off any hope, chance for them coming around, at least from a Chinese perspective," he said. "So they’ll do it I think more politically or try to soften some of the hard edges on economic sanctions, but there’s a limit to what they can do.”

North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. The international community has condemned North Korea's long-range rocket launches as disguised intercontinental ballistic missile tests. Pyongyang says it fired its rocket in December with the intention of putting a weather satellite into orbit.

Source

 

[waltky]

After Dennis Rodman visit - lil' Kim gettin' dunked...

US seeks UN sanctions targeting North Korea diplomats
5 March 2013 - The US has tabled a UN resolution - agreed with China - for sanctions that would target North Korea's diplomats and cash transfers.

Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice said they would be "some of the toughest sanctions" the UN had imposed. Li Baodong, China's UN envoy, said a "strong signal" had to be sent following North Korea's third and most powerful nuclear test last month. Earlier, Pyongyang warned it would scrap a 60-year Korean ceasefire. North Korea's military command said it would end the truce with South Korea on 11 March because of the threat of sanctions and the current military exercises taking place in South Korea. "We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said. The Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953 - not a peace treaty - meaning the peninsula is still technically at war.

'Strong signal'

"For the first time ever, this resolution targets the illicit activities of North Korean diplomatic personnel, North Korean banking relationships [and] illicit transfers of bulk cash," Susan Rice said after a closed-door consultation on the draft with the 15 members of the Security Council. "The breadth and scope of these sanctions is exceptional and demonstrates the strength of the international community's commitment to denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula, she told reporters. The resolution also pledges to take further measures should North Korea carry out another missile launch or nuclear test, she said. She said she hoped the Security Council would vote on the draft resolution this week.

Li Baodong said China supported the move, but added: "We think that action should be proportionate, should be balanced and focused on bringing down the tension and focusing on the diplomatic track. "A strong signal must be sent out that a nuclear test is against the will of the international community," he told Reuters news agency. China is North Korea's only ally and its major trading partner. Beijing has in the past been reluctant to support tougher sanctions, citing the impact of potential instability inside its secretive neighbour state. February's nuclear test was the first of its kind under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after his father Kim Jong-il died in December 2011.

Nuclear test monitors based in Vienna say the underground explosion had double the force of the last test, in 2009, despite the use of a device said by the North to be smaller. North Korea claimed that a "miniaturised" device had been tested, increasing fears that Pyongyang had moved closer to building a warhead small enough to arm a missile. Pyongyang said the test was a "self-defensive measure" made necessary by the "continued hostility" of the US. It came weeks after Pyongyang successfully used a rocket to put a satellite into space, a move condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology.

BBC News - US seeks UN sanctions targeting North Korea diplomats