The United States plans to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea in response to the country’s three missile tests on Wednesday. The Americans will vote on a resolution to that effect “in the coming days” at the UN Security Council, a US government official said. According to diplomats, the vote is already Thursday. There is a chance that China and Russia will veto additional sanctions for the impoverished communist country.
However, the US believes that North Korea should be weakened with “punitive measures that further limit North Korea’s ability to further develop its illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” the government official said. Under previous UN resolutions, North Korea is prohibited from having nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles at short intervals toward the Sea of Japan. One was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It was the 17th round of missile tests by North Korea this year. In addition, according to South Korean information, there are signs of an imminent new nuclear test by North Korea. The last North Korean nuclear test was in 2017.
The US draft resolution, which has been seen by the German news agency DPA, includes sanctions against the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. According to the US, that group is responsible for the theft of cryptocurrencies worth about 570 million euros. Hacker attacks are seen as an important means for North Korea to fund its weapons programs. If the resolution is passed, Lazerus’ assets will be frozen.
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