A vote is expected Monday evening on a new round of U.N. sanctions against North Korea. Unfortunately, in a bid to win Russian and Chinese support for the resolution, the measures proposed by the United States have been watered down. Removed has been what would be one the most useful tools in ending the brutal regime of Kim Jong-un: imposing a freeze on his financial assets.
Originally, the United States has proposed banning oil exports into North Korea (the Korean peninsula is home to virtually zero fossil fuels), freezing Kim’s overseas assets, and banning the dictator from traveling abroad. These measures have now reportedly been dropped. The latter was basically irrelevant anyway: Understandably paranoid, Kim Jong-un has been positively JD Salinger-like in his (im)mobility. The oil sanctions could cripple the regime, but they could also end up badly harming the people of North Korea.
An asset freeze would have been a brilliant move, however. They would have complemented extant sanctions that already ban North Korea from importing luxury goods. It’s not that actions like these deprive Kim Jong-un of his Rabelasian lifestyle—though there’s a certain satisfaction in that. Yes, it seems only fair that the morbidly obese ruler of a hungry country be denied a few baubles. But the key factor is that luxury goods and wealth dispersal are essential to Kim’s reign.
Kim’s strategy for maintaining the support of North Korean elite runs on two tracks. For one, there’s what officials in Seoul repeatedly refer to as Kim’s “reign of terror.” Think of the vicious series of purges Kim has had carried out, including the execution of his own uncle—a remarkable act of filial impiety in what is still a heavily Confuscian society. But the flip side of that is Kim’s “generosity” towards the elites. He uses imports of extravagant goods, like luxury watches, funded through his private accounts, to buy their support. Kim is thought to have between $3 and $5 billion sequestered overseas for these purposes. Depriving him of that ability could create a cleavage between Kim and the elites. And the best chance of overthrowing the regime is if those elites turn against him.
Instead, the best we apparently will get is a ban on North Korean textile exports. That’s fine, as far as it goes. But it’s unlikely to topple the regime—which is probably why China appears ready to agree to it.
