The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Friday to pass a resolution that adds more than a dozen North Koreans and four entities in North Korea to a sanctions blacklist in response to the nation’s ongoing missile tests for its nuclear weapons program.
Instead of relying on the council’s North Korea sanctions committee, the U.S. persuaded China to support the public vote, dealing a more assertive condemnation of North Korea. However, an effort to persuade China to approve more sanctions was not approved because it did not get Chinese support.
“The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today — stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences,” said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. She also said that the U.S. remains committed to diplomatic and financial pressure on North Korea but that the country “remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary.”
Added to the U.N. sanctions blacklist, which includes a global travel ban and asset freeze, are four North Korean entities and 15 people, including the head of Pyongyang’s overseas spying operations and foreign intelligence, the Associated Press reported.
