• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Analysis: Questions Linger After Sanctions

Council on Foreign Relations

Updated: October 16, 2006
Prepared by: Carin Zissis

The UN Security Council passed a unanimous resolution imposing sanctions against North Korea for its October 9 nuclear test, but the document's vague wording raises questions on how it will be enforced. It remains unclear, for example, whether economic activity between North Korea and its main trading partners—namely China and South Korea—would be affected (LAT). Both countries indicated their intention to continue cross-border trade and carry out a number of economic projects already in the works (NYT). Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to the region this week in an effort to press these countries to carry out the sanctions regime (CSMonitor).

Over the past week of intense diplomatic negotiations, UN Security Council members struggled to find consensus on how harshly the regime should be disciplined for the test, which the United States has confirmed was nuclear. The differences (BBC) among main Security Council and regional actors reflect long-standing preferences by some states to coax, rather than punish, poorly behaving regimes. Before the approval of the UN resolution, Japan had already passed strong unilateral sanctions (Mainichi) banning North Korean ships in its waters, imports, and citizens. In spite of taking a hardline approach to the Hermit Kingdom, the nuclear crisis has given Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, common ground to mend relations with China and South Korea, as this new Backgrounder explains.

R. Nicholas Burns, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, says the North Korea crisis presents an opportunity for Washington to strengthen its strategic position in Asia. Yan Xuetong, a Chinese security expert, tells Der Spiegel “ America committed a grave mistake” that caused the current problem when it imposed sanctions last year excluding North Korea from participating in international banking.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.