By Steven E. White

On Friday, the 22nd of December, the United Nations voted 15-0 to impose additional sanctions on North Korea. They hope to severely damage North Korea’s economy, specifically targeting their oil imports, and their workers in other countries.

Along with restricting 89% of their oil imports, workers from North Korea in other countries will be forced to move back, within two years. There are roughly 100,000 laborers from North Korea, in other countries who are ordered to return home within two years. These people are sent by North Korea to make money for their country, from their targeted areas, and send it back to their nation. With these sanctions, the United Nations hope North Korea will abandon their nuclear weapons program. In November, North Korea tested a ballistic missile, which they say has the ability to strike anywhere on the entire American mainland, alarming US and Japanese officials.

Japan has approved its biggest defence budget thus far, in response to the Korean threat. America, and the UN have sanctioned North Korea to the point where the only thing left to leverage would be to starve their people; and so far, Trump and the UN refuse to do so. Thomas P. Bossert, White House Homeland Security Advisor, recently stated, in regard to leveraging them with sanctions, that America has “used just about every lever you can use, short of starving the people of North Korea to death to change their behaviour.” Thomas continues, “And so we don’t have a lot of room left here to apply pressure to change their behavior.” They are running of ethical sanctions.

Despite the several measures taken against the North Korean economy, nothing has yet dissuaded them from launching missiles. The C.I.A. assessment of Kim Jong-un concludes that no matter what we may sanction, or whatever we may do, stubborn Kim will not abandon his nuclear weapons program.

Trump took to Twitter, stating the world wants peace, not death, “The United Nations Security Council just voted 15-0 in favor of additional Sanctions on North Korea. The World wants Peace, not Death!” When America proposed the sanction plan, China, and Russia surprisingly voted for the sanctions. China has been reluctant to sanction North Korea, for fear of destabilizing its neighbor. Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s Deputy Ambassador, made a point that Russia had been not adequately informed on the sanctions or plans, but still went along with the vote.

Nikki R. Haley added, after thanking everyone for their vote, that further defiance from North Korea would “invite further punishment and isolation.” She also stated that the ballistic missile test last month was “another attempt by the Kim regime to masquerade as a great power while their people starve and their soldiers defect.”

Wu Haitao, China’s Deputy Ambassador, said their recent efforts reflect “the unanimous position of the international community,” and he went on to urge North Korea to “refrain from conducting any further nuclear and missile tests.”

Hopefully, these sanction will finally convince Kim to shut down his nuclear weapons program, and put the world at ease.