South Korea said Monday that it plans to unveil a fresh set of unilateral sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday, which would likely include a port entry ban, as it seeks to ratchet up pressure on its wayward neighbor in line with the latest U.N. resolution.
The announcement will be made by Lee Suk-joon, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, with the participation of foreign and unification ministries and other agencies, the office said.
The new measures are expected to be designed to bar foreign-flagged vessels with records of stopping in North Korea from entering the South, while carrying a blacklist of North Korean entities and individuals suspected of being engaged in the communist state’s nuclear and missile programs.
Seoul is also likely to halt a trilateral trans-Korea logistics project following discussions with Russia, according to Foreign Ministry officials. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said during an appearance on MBC on Sunday that consultations would happen “sometime soon” over the impact of the UNSC resolution on the three-way initiative.
People and vehicles queue as they seek to enter North Korea from Hunchun, Jilin Province, China on Sunday. (Yonhap)
Aside from the Security Council measures, South Korea has been spurring its own sanctions drive since Pyongyang carried out further nuclear and missile tests on Jan. 6 and Feb. 7, respectively. In a major policy shift, it pulled out from a joint factory park in a North Korean border city last month that had long been an icon of cross-border rapprochement.
The unveiling also coincides with Seoul’s coordination with the U.S., Japan and other like-minded countries on standalone sanctions.
On Feb. 10, Tokyo also introduced an entry ban on all North Korean ships, including humanitarian missions, and third-country-flagged ships that had previously stopped in the North.
Washington, for its part, expanded its own blacklist shortly after the UNSC adopted the resolution by adding five institutions, such as the powerful National Defense Commission, and 11 people including NDC vice chairman Hwang Pyong-so.
The U.S. Congress enacted a package of its strongest, most comprehensive standalone penalties against Pyongyang last month, making way for the administration to sanction foreign nationals and groups involved in dealings that could support the regime’s illicit activities.
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)