After the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK“) carried out its fifth nuclear test last Friday 12th September, some press reports indicated that the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC“) had agreed to impose new sanctions on the nation. The DPRK has been hit by five sets of UNSC sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, most recently on 2nd March 2016 (see our related blog post here).
On the 4th August 2016, the European Union amended its restrictive measures on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) to implement new measures against the DPRK as set out in UN Resolution 2270, adopted by the Security Council on 2nd March 2016.
Introduction
Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (“DPRK” or “North Korea“) latest nuclear test and rocket launch on 6 January 2016 and 7 February 2016 respectively, the UN Security Council (“UNSC“) unanimously adopted Resolution 2270 (2016) (the “UN Resolution“) on 2 March 2016.
The UN Resolution contains far-reaching sanctions aimed at cutting off funds for DPRK’s nuclear and other banned weapons programmes, whilst avoiding “adverse humanitarian consequences” for civilians. The UN Resolution adds sectoral sanctions, broadens the scope of the existing financial sanctions and arms embargo, imposes new measures targeting proliferation networks, and expands the list of designated individuals and entities.
As a result of the DPRK’s recent nuclear testing, the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”) held on Wednesday an emergency meeting called by the US, Japan and South Korea. Following the meeting, the UNSC released a pressstatement condemning the country’s actions, and announcing that it will immediately begin considering the “significant measures” which it had promised to take in the event of further nuclear testing by the country. The UNSC will now start negotiating the content…