- Washington strengthens military ties with Japan and South Korea
- Pyongyang has fired a record number of missiles this year
The United States says it is working on additional sanctions against North Korea as it struggles to find ways to pressure the regime back to the negotiating table amid resistance from China and Russia.
“We have a new set of sanctions measures being put forward as we speak,” National Security Council adviser Jake Sullivan said at a CSIS forum on Wednesday, adding that the United States would bolster military and intelligence cooperation with Japan and South Korea. He did not elaborate on the scope of the new measures.
North Korea is already one of the most sanctioned countries in the world. It is unclear what is left for the United States and its allies. Other measures, such as cracking down on Chinese financial institutions suspected of doing business with the country, could risk a wider confrontation between Washington and Beijing.
The sanctions regime, which, among other things, includes a cap on fuel imports and limits on foreign income, has also shown cracks. North Korea was on track to exceed its limit of 500,000 barrels of annual imports this year, according to an Expert Panel report released in September.
North Korea has been ramping up provocations for months, firing a record number of missiles this year. Last month it tested a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile with an estimated range long enough to carry a warhead to the U.S. mainland, underscoring the challenges U.S. President Joe Biden faces in trying to tame Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions. Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul have promised a coordinated response if Pyongyang detonates an atomic device, in defiance of United Nations resolutions.
Kim is finding room to escalate tensions as the United States and its allies focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia and China, two longtime partners of North Korea, have veto power in the UN Security Council and have shown no intention of punishing Kim with additional sanctions. They played a critical role in passing such measures five years ago after Kim’s last atomic test.
Closer military cooperation with Japan and South Korea would include updating the “alliance software we have in the region” and “hardware-related steps,” Sullivan said, declining to elaborate. The three countries have held intensive consultations on the matter at the leadership level, he said.
Both Japan and South Korea are trying to bolster their defenses amid the growing threat from North Korea and simmering tensions over Taiwan.
Sullivan stressed that the United States continued to offer an olive branch to North Korea in an attempt to calm the situation.
“We have made it clear in public and private communications that we have no hostile intentions towards the DPRK,” Sullivan added. “And yet, to date, Pyongyang has completely rejected this sincere outreach.”
Source: Bloomberg
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