A key Republican lawmaker demanded on Friday that the Obama administration implement tougher sanctions against North Korea after its Thursday nuclear test of its largest nuclear bomb so far.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said the test shows the U.S. needs to be tougher on North Korea, and blamed the Obama administration for failing to implement the sanctions options approved by Congress just this year. He said the U.S. needs to impose more penalties, in particular against Chinese companies that are helping North Korea.
“Most notably, the administration has yet to impose sanctions on any of the many Chinese companies and banks that, according to a recent U.N. report, continue to support the North Korean regime,” Royce said. “This must change.”
“We’ve seen before that China will only comply with sanctions if Chinese banks face real consequences for doing business in North Korea,” he added.
Royce also said the U.S. should sanction North Korea’s state-owned airline.
“Today’s detonation wasn’t just about testing nuclear technology,” Royce said. “It was also about testing America’s resolve. Now is the time for this administration to act.”
Late Thursday, Obama warned North Korea of “serious consequences” for its recent tests, but wasn’t specific.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., hadn’t issued a statement on North Korea’s test as of early Friday. But on Tuesday, after reports of a North Korea missile test, Corker was also warning that the Obama administration had failed to sanction the country as much as it could.
“[T]he Obama administration continues to drag its feet, with lackluster implementation of the new sanctions authority Congress provided earlier this year under the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act,” he said.
Like Royce, Corker also blamed China for failing to do enough.
“It is highly discouraging that China does little as North Korea continues to test and develop its missile and nuclear programs,” he said. “China wants the international respect due a country of its size, yet it refuses to responsibly address a growing threat to stability in its own region and has failed to fully implement United Nations Security Resolution sanctions.”
