UN toughens sanctions on North Korea

The United States and North Korea’s traditional ally China spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions, which include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang; and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in “illicit activities.”

The U.S., its Western allies and Japan pressed for new sanctions that went beyond the North’s nuclear and missile programs but China, Pyongyang’s neighbor, was reluctant to impose measures that could threaten the stability of North Korea and cause its economy to collapse.

The resolution bans the export of coal, iron and iron ore being used to fund North Korea’s nuclear or ballistic missile programs — and it prohibits all exports of gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore and rare earth minerals.