WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) — The new package of U.N. sanctions on North Korea will make life harder for the communist nation by slashing its foreign currency earnings, but is unlikely to change Pyongyang’s calculus on its nuclear and missile programs, U.S. experts said Wednesday.
The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2321, which centers on putting a significant cap on North Korea’s exports of coal, its single biggest export item and source of hard currency, and banning exports of four additional minerals.
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Alan Romberg, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, said the scope of the new sanctions is significant and the key is how rigorously they are carried out by countries, especially China.
Still, however, the measures are unlikely to derail the North’s nuclear program, he said.
“It is hard to envisage the DPRK abandoning or even significantly altering its nuclear weapons program at this stage. It may have to tighten its belt, but if so it is likely to do so in other areas,” he said.
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