New policy: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, is greeted by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to their bilateral meeting in the Philippines last week


New policy: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, 
is greeted by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to their
bilateral meeting in the Philippines last week


  • China accounts for 90 percent of 
  • international trade with North Korea

  • China has banned imports of coal, iron, lead and sea 
  • food from North Korea
  • This is in line with United Nations sanctions 
  • announced earlier this month
China has banned the import of several vital products from
 North Korea in line with the UN sanctions announced
earlier this month.
Importing coal, iron ore, lead concentrates and ore, lead and 
sea food from North Korea will be banned as of Tuesday,
China's Commerce Ministry said today. 
It is hoped that the UN sanctions against trade with North Korea
 will force the country's dictator Kim Jong-Un to slow down, 
if not abandon, his nuclear missile program.
Sanctioned: It is hoped that the UN sanctions will force North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, seen inspecting a test-fire of a ballistic missile earlier this year, to slow down his missile program
Sanctioned: It is hoped that the UN sanctions will force North Korean
 leader Kim Jong-Un, seen inspecting a test-fire of a ballistic 
missile earlier this year, to slow down his missile program
The United States in particular wants to stop Pyongyang from 
developing nuclear missiles, while North Korea sees its nuclear
 arsenal as protection against the U.S. and its partners in Asia.  
Concern that North Korea is close to achieving its goal of putting
 the mainland United States within range of a nuclear weapon
has underpinned a spike in tensions in recent months,
 including between China and the U.S.

China accounts for 90 percent of trade with North Korea 
but is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures, 
even after voting in their favor.
U.S. President Donald Trump has urged China to do more to 
rein in its neighbour, often linking Beijing's efforts to comments
around U.S.-China trade. China strenuously rejects
linking the two issues. 
New policy: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, is greeted by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to their bilateral meeting in the Philippines last week
New policy: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, 
is greeted by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to their
 bilateral meeting in the Philippines last week
UN sanctions regimes have sometimes come under fire for 
harming general populations rather than their targeted leaders,
 but worked well in South Africa to build pressure against apartheid,
 and more recently to rein in Iran's nuclear program.
If sanctions fail to change the regime's behavior, the Security 
Council still has other options, such as an oil embargo or the
 return home of North Korean nationals working abroad.
The UN sanctions against North Korea must be implemented 
30 days after the resolution was approved in a vote on August 6. 
A new report on the implementation of UN sanctions 
against North Korea is expected in September.  
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