Just recently we have witnessed another, sixth, nuclear weapon test conducted by North Korea and this caused the US and its allies to call for tougher sanctions against the regime. Response from the “rogue” state says that they will inflict “the greatest pain and suffering” to the US if they continue with the latest call for additional sanctions.
The most recent resolution proposed by the US urges the UN security council to stop North Korea’s oil import but also to freeze all assets that its leader Kim Jong-un has. This is not all as the Washington further wants to end textile imports and prevent North Korean citizens from working in foreign countries which is one of the most important income sources for the state.
When we combine news from Pyongyang and what we saw we could conclude that they are very close to mounting hydrogen bomb onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. Just recently North Korea tested its H-bomb while we previously saw them firing a missile over Japan indicating that they are advancing rapidly. The regime has the clear goal, and that is to develop a missile that will be capable of delivering a nuclear bomb to almost any spot on the planet.
KCNA news agency aired statement in which North Korea’s foreign ministry warned the US that in case it “did rig up the illegal and unlawful ‘resolution’ on harsher sanctions, the DPRK shall make absolutely sure that the US pays a due price.” It continues with: “The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it has ever gone through in its entire history. The world will witness how the DPRK tames the US gangsters by taking a series of action tougher than they have ever envisaged.”
China is one of the countries that still cooperates with Pyongyang to some extent. They are the biggest exporter of oil to North Korea, and even they did condemn last nuclear weapons test they do not want to destabilize regime as it could eventually lead to the US and Seoul controlled Korean peninsula. As as a result, Beijing would be facing a sizable number of US and South Korean troops along its border.
It is a good question how much the new measures could affect North Korean regime as they successfully managed to go around it on more than several occasions. According to UN officials, it is estimated that Pyongyang managed to export coal, iron and similar in the worth of at least $270 million. This was delivered to China and other countries with whom they still do cooperate, and it was done during the six months of this year. This is not all as there are proofs that Kim Jong-un is making a lot of money with arms export and various financial services.
On top of that, “revolutionary fund” that is hidden in Swiss bank accounts under false names could be quite large, and some estimates say that it goes from 3 to 5 billion dollars. Money that Kim has is spent on luxury items, but he also buys expensive watches and electronics for his senior officers as a reward.
One of the measures that could be implemented by the US, if the additional sanctions are not approved by the UN, is for them to impose sanctions on any country that has any kind of trading deal with North Korea. According to US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, he has prepared an executive order that only needs Trump’s signature.
