S. Korean FM expects agreement on N. Korea sanctions by early next week

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign minister said Friday that he
expected the U.N. Security Council will produce an agreement by early next week
on arms embargoes and financial sanctions on North Korea for its recent nuclear
test.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Yu Myung-hwan said the five permanent members of the Security Council plus two,
South Korea and Japan, are trying to find "maximum measures to effectively
inspect vessels and airplanes to and from North Korea which do not run against
international law."
Since the North's nuclear test on May 25, its second in nearly three years, the
veto-wielding P-5 plus two countries have met several times but have failed to
narrow differences over the level of sanctions, although they have agreed on the
need to adopt a legally-binding resolution against the North.
On cargo inspections, both China and Russia want any such inspections to be made
within the framework of existing international law, Yu said.
"It is illegal to interdict cargo in international waters unless approved by the
country of the flag carried by the vessels," he said. "It could be controversial
among countries with different interests if the resolution attempts to change
existing international law."
The top South Korean diplomat noted such differences between Beijing and
Washington in handling North Korea due to the "geopolitics involved."
"It is inevitable that China will be cautious in details on the matter of cargo
inspections," he said.
China, North Korea's closest communist ally and its greatest benefactor, along
with Russia thwarted a bid by Washington and its allies to adopt a resolution
after North Korea's April 5 rocket launch. A largely symbolic Security Council
presidential statement was adopted at that time.
China holds the key to effective implementation of any sanctions on North Korea,
which is heavily dependent on its communist neighbor for energy, food and other
necessities. Beijing demanded any sanctions be conducive to coaxing the reclusive
North into returning to the multilateral nuclear disarmament talks.
Another thorny issue revolves around to what extent financial sanctions should be
imposed.
"Agreement has been made so far that we need to effectively control North Korea's
money supply to develop nuclear weapons and missiles," he said. "However, we also
need to exclude normal and humanitarian financial transactions from sanctions."
Yu anticipated that the P-5 plus two meeting would soon form a committee of
experts to list the goods, companies and personnel to be subjected to sanctions.
On the remarks by Philip Crowley, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public
affairs, that the U.S. will pursue its own financial sanctions against North
Korea aside from those being discussed at the U.N., Yu said, "I think the U.S.
will consider imposing its own financial sanctions on North Korea after a U.N.
Security Council resolution has been adopted."
Washington slapped financial sanctions on a Macau bank in 2005 to freeze US$25
million worth of North Korean assets, effectively cutting off Pyongyang's access
to the international financial system. Banco Delta Asia (BDA) had been accused of
helping North Korea launder money by circulating sophisticated counterfeit US$100
bills called "supernotes."
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is returning home from a weeklong
trip to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, where he sought support for a general arms and
financial embargo aimed at shutting down North Korea's main source of hard
currency income and access to foreign financial institutions.
U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey, who played a central role in the BDA
sanctions, is accompanying Steinberg in light of recent findings that North Korea
circulated about US$1 million worth of supernotes at a South Korean port late
last year.
North Korea's recent provocations, including nuclear and missile tests, are
widely seen as an attempt by ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to help his
third and youngest son, Jong-un, consolidate power in an unprecedented third
generation dynastic power transfer.
In fragile health after an apparent stroke last summer, Kim Jong-il officially
anointed Jong-un as his successor soon after the latest nuclear test.
Talk is rife over Kim Jong-il's true intentions, with some saying Pyongyang will
return to the negotiating table either bilaterally with the U.S. or
multilaterally, while others voice pessimism about Pyongyang's willingness to
abandon its nuclear arsenal.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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