On Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to adopt new sanctions against North Korea. Most notably, the new resolution bans nearly 90 per cent of refined petroleum product exports to North Korea and demands that all North Koreans working abroad be sent home within 24 months.
This is just the latest round of sanctions imposed on North Korea since it conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. Bit by bit, the United Nations has barred trade in all sorts of things with the regime.
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Here’s a look at what’s currently banned, and what isn’t. Individual countries and international entities like the European Union have also enacted their own sanctions, but the United Nations sanctions are the basis for international action. While some of these are subject to certain limits or exceptions, it’s a pretty extensive list.
Here’s what the UN prohibits.
What is banned:
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The supply, sale or transfer of:
- Pretty well all weapons, including tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles, or missile systems and even small arms
- Associated material like spare parts for these weapons
- Training or services related to those things
- Luxury goods, including jewelry, fancy watches, crystal and china, expensive rugs, yachts, recreational vehicles like snowmobiles and jet-skis, sports equipment and luxury cars
- Aircraft and rocket fuel, with a few small exceptions
- Condensates and natural gas liquids
- Refined petroleum products like gasoline or kerosene, capped at 500,000 barrels per year
- Crude oil, capped at 4 million barrels a year
- Financial services, including bulk cash payments, joint ventures with North Koreans and even opening North Korean bank accounts, that could contribute to North Korean missile or nuclear programs
- Any other items, if the UN member state thinks that it could be used to further North Korea’s nuclear, missile or weapons of mass destruction programs unless it’s food or medicine
- Crew services for North Korean vehicles like ships or planes
- Teaching or training in chemical engineering, advanced electrical engineering, and some other advanced sciences
- Insurance services
Member states are also required to:
- Freeze the assets of people identified as being engaged in or providing support for North Korea’s nuclear, weapons of mass destruction and missile programs
- Not allow these people to travel into their territories, unless they’re citizens there
- Also, freeze the assets of and ban anyone determined to be working for these identified people
- If the identified people are from North Korea, deport them back there
- Inspect cargo destined for North Korea to make sure that it doesn’t include anything that’s banned and destroy prohibited materials
- Monitor their own nationals and financial institutions to make sure they’re not doing banned activities
- Prevent North Korean banks from opening new branches in their territory and close existing branches
- Not give government grants or export credits to citizens engaging in trade with North Korea if it could contribute to the North Korean missile or nuclear programs
- Not let aircraft fly over their territory if they’re suspected of containing banned goods
- Not let North Korea use real estate in their country except for diplomatic or consular purposes
North Korea can’t export:
- Any arms or military equipment, or undertake any financial transactions or technical training related to these things
- Coal, iron and iron ore
- Gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore, rare earth minerals, copper, nickel, silver, lead, lead ore and zinc
- Seafood
What’s still allowed:
- Food and medicine
- Other things that the exporting state determines are purely for humanitarian purposes
— With files from Reuters
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