US' Pompeo seeks to shore up UN support for North Korean sanctions

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo sought to shore up support among UN Security Council members for a North Korean sanctions regime that’s showing signs of weakening, as hopes for a quick denuclearisation agreement with Pyongyang fade.
 

Standing alongside US Ambassador Nikki Haley in New York on Friday, Pompeo said the US expects countries to honour their commitments to cut off North Korea’s economy. He reiterated accusations that Kim Jong Un’s regime is smuggling in refined petroleum products in order to get around the 500,000 barrel per year quota set by the United Nations Security Council.

“When sanctions are not enforced, the prospects for successful denuclearisation of North Korea are diminished,” Pompeo said, adding that he and President Donald Trump remain “upbeat” about the possibility that North Korea will give up its nuclear arms.
 

Senior US officials including Pompeo and Trump argue that their “maximum pressure” campaign is the key reason why Kim has said he’s willing to give up his nuclear weapons, and have insisted that sanctions will remain in place until that process is complete. At the same time, they have said that China, North Korea’s primary economic and diplomatic partner, has slipped in its enforcement of sanctions.

Pompeo said at least 89 illegal ship-to-ship transfers took place in the first five months of this year, making them the “most prominent means” for North Korea to violate sanctions, which are intended to deprive the isolated regime of hard currency.
 

“The problem that we are encountering is that some of our friends have decided that they want to go around the rules,” Haley said.