Should Sanctions Be Set Upon North Korea?

[Omnicron's Baklava Enterprises]

Should Sanctions be set upon North Korea?

North Korea, for a while now, has been making unstable agreements to stop its nuclear program, such as joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985 and then withdrawing from it on April 10th, 2003. Ever since this withdrawal (the first withdrawal ever made from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) North Korea has had many eyes upon it, from Japan to the United States. After withdrawing from said treaty, North Korea finally began its program, beginning "an illegal enriched uranium weapons program".
Source - "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty"

One of the reasons North Korea uses these nuclear weapons simply because they want to be up-to-par with the United States and other countries considered 'first world' or of exceptional power, militarily speaking. With these nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-il would loom over the countries nearby to North Korea. Knowing him, he may come to use nuclear weapons as a key to unlock certain resources or as a threat to countries who do not comply with any contracts he creates.

The Agreed Framework signed by the United States and North Korea on October 21, 1994 in Geneva agreed that:
- North Korea would freeze its existing nuclear program and agree to enhanced International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards
- Both sides would cooperate to replace the D.P.R.K.'s graphite-moderated reactors for related facilities with light-water power plants.
- Both countries would move toward full normalization of political and economic relations.
- Both sides will work together for peace and security on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
And that both sides would work to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Prior to the establishment of the Agreed Framework, intelligence sources believed that North Korea could have extracted plutonium from their reactors for use in nuclear weapons; perhaps enough for one or two nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, it has remained unclear whether North Korea had actually produced nuclear weapons due to difficulties in developing detonation devices.

Source: "Nuclear Weapons Program" - North Korea
From this quote, we see that North Korea has been doing what everybody has not hoped for: extracting plutonium for their nuclear weapons. Once again, North Korea has done the opposite of what the treaties state, whether it was before the treaties or after. With it’s nuclear weapons, North Korea not only wants to be ‘up to par’ with the other "first-world" countries; it could threaten nearby countries that are at a lacking of nuclear programs or weapons such as Japan. It may even threaten the countries that have nuclear weapons and programs, such as South Korea and China.

The Pros of putting Sanctions on North Korea:

- Help stop or completely stop the flow of nuclear or materials used for other weapons into North Korea that they might use against us.
- Overall limit their use of nuclear power.
- Lower the threat of their usage of nuclear weapons, whether to show their power or to threaten other nations.
- Limit their use of other dangerous weapons.
- Financially restricting them will also limit overall usage of weapons.
- Being able to inspect all of their ships for dangerous materials.

Some of these sanctions include being able to inspect their ships for potential weaponry and materials used for weaponry.

In a compromise, the resolution requests that states inspect ships on the high seas. If the country where the ship is registered decided to reject an inspection in international waters, then the country would be required to direct the vessel to a nearby harbor for an inspection. If neither happened, the episode would be reported to the Security Council’s sanctions committee. The resolution also suggests that states should cut off “bunkering” services, like refueling, for North Korean vessels.

Source: "North Korea Could Face New Round of Sanctions"


Many may ask these two questions: "Do sanctions work?" and "What effects do they have upon the countries?"

Sanctions had caused suffering to the people of Iraq and Iran when broad sanctions were placed upon those countries.

“There are various estimates of how much the sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s and up to the invasion and occupation of the country in 2003 injured the children of that country, how much it increased infant and young child mortality rates. The estimates range anywhere from 100-thousand needless deaths to 500-thousand,” says Carpenter. “But however many, it was an enormous total of purely innocent people and yet it did not dislodge Saddam Hussein from power at all. So I think that is a pretty powerful argument against sanctions, particularly very broad sanctions.”

This would have been an acceptable argument to use against putting sanctions on North Korea, a country with people already suffering financially and health-wise.

However, the United Nations has learned from its past mistakes, and has contemplated a new, more efficient way of sanctions. These new versions of sanctions are called "smart sanctions". Instead of throwing on sanctions and cutting off supplies and money to the whole of a country, these sanctions target the individual. Past sanctions have not always fully afflicted the tyrannical leader of countries with objectionable behaviour. These new ‘smart sanctions’ will target the government, if not Kim Jong-il himself, and may finally prevent him from creating these weapons.

Michael Jacobson, a former U.S. Treasury Department official in the Bush administration, is a counter-terrorism expert at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He says that in recent years, the United States has adopted what are often called "smart sanctions" -- targeted financial measures against individuals engaging in perceived bad behavior.
In 1995, the United States initiated a ban on trade for American firms doing business in Iran. But since 2005, the Treasury Department has designated individual Iranian officials and companies as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.
Michael Jacobson argues that new measures, such as freezing the assets of individuals and imposing travel restrictions, are likely to prove more effective than the broad sanctions of the past.

These sanctions may have not had a complete major impact on Iran, simply because Iran is a major producer of oil and has a large part in the global economy.

However, smart sanctions have worked on North Korea itself:

North Korea is an example where targeted financial measures have worked. Jacobson says the freezing of some 25-million dollars in North Korean funds in a Macau bank brought Pyongyang back to talks on ending its nuclear ambitions.

To push a few more of these smart sanctions on the North Korean government and banks might be able to drastically slow or even stop North Korea’s creation of nuclear, or otherwise, weapons.

Source for the three previous quotes: Literally "Do Sanctions Work?"

 

[CStick]

as you outlined with the imposed sanctions on Iraq in the 90s, the sanctions will have probably the same effect; they will only do more harm than good to the people of N. Korea, without dislodging Kim Jong-il from power - thus, not solving the problem.

The only real way that sanctions could work would be if N. Korea cannot support themselves via other means (such as arms trafficking and/or selling secrets and technology leasings to other countries).

Another thought would be that maybe we should try a friendlier approach; maybe we should accept another nation's right to sovereignty and the right to have access to nuclear weaponry in the interest of national defense, instead of using fear-mongering and bullying tactics to deny them. Why not let them develop their nuclear program as they see fit and bring them into the UN and have them join the rest of the world? Or is that just crazy talk...?

 

[Omnicron's Baklava Enterprises]

as you outlined with the imposed sanctions on Iraq in the 90s, the sanctions will have probably the same effect; they will only do more harm than good to the people of N. Korea, without dislodging Kim Jong-il from power - thus, not solving the problem.

The only real way that sanctions could work would be if N. Korea cannot support themselves via other means (such as arms trafficking and/or selling secrets and technology leasings to other countries).

Did you not the section on "Smart Sanctions"? Those sanctions would only target the government of North Korea should the United Nations choose. Should Kim Jong-il punish his people for this, then the United Nations would be able to tighten the restrictions on him or the ones that are striving to create new weapons for North Korea.

Another thought would be that maybe we should try a friendlier approach; maybe we should accept another nation's right to sovereignty and the right to have access to nuclear weaponry in the interest of national defense, instead of using fear-mongering and bullying tactics to deny them. Why not let them develop their nuclear program as they see fit and bring them into the UN and have them join the rest of the world? Or is that just crazy talk...?

Kim Jong-il should not be trusted; he has broken contracts and treaties and is known to continue what he was doing.
He withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.
Also, North Korea has broken numerous human rights policies.
Apparently, North Korea bans communication between citizens and outsiders alike. It prohibits human rights monitors from accessing the country.
Along with these, North Korea has an unfair caste system based on loyalty to their leader, Kim Jong-il: "Core" is considered the most loyal to him and given many rights, "Wavering" is considered on the borderline and do not have many rights, and finally the "Hostile" category is set in place and decided when people are descendants of another country, or have no faith in Kim Jong-il. Horrifically, the "Hostile" group of people in North Korea are given almost no rights and are even subject to starvation.
Source: "Human Rights in North Korea - Human Rights Abuses, North Korean Human Rights Violations"
Should the United States really become friendly with a country that basically tortures a large part of its population just because they are from another country or have no faith in their leader? I think not.

North Korea vowed Friday to bolster its atomic arsenal in response to what it called Washington's "persistent hostile policy," even as a special envoy for President Barack Obama traveled to the region in a bid to draw Pyongyang back to nuclear negotiations.

Kim Jong-il is using this statement of 'the United States is being too hostile' as an excuse for creating more and more nuclear weapons.
The envoy stated that "We believe very strongly that the solution to the tensions and problems of the area now lies in dialogue and negotiation."
However, North Korea dismissed America yet again:

But North Korea dismissed the Obama administration's stance as "unchanged" from a previous policy of hostility.

North Korea seems to be the one who is acting hostile here; rejecting the Obama Administration's talks of no tension between the two countries.

Source: "North Korea: We'll boost nuclear weapons"

 

[CStick]

Did you not the section on "Smart Sanctions"? Those sanctions would only target the government of North Korea should the United Nations choose. Should Kim Jong-il punish his people for this, then the United Nations would be able to tighten the restrictions on him or the ones that are striving to create new weapons for North Korea.

but my point here is that there is always a way around something. Kim Jong-Il has shown repeatedly that he is going to make more nukes. How are more sanctions going to stop him if he is that ambitious or determined?

Kim Jong-il should not be trusted; he has broken contracts and treaties and is known to continue what he was doing.

then what is going to stop him now? They freeze assets, but then they generate new revenue from other underground means, which they use to continue their development. There will always be a way to get around whatever UN throws at him short of a full-out invasion to remove him from power. Illegal trade, export, etc. already come from N. Korea, and it generates a good deal of revenue.

Should the United States really become friendly with a country that basically tortures a large part of its population just because they are from another country or have no faith in their leader? I think not.

as Americans, bombing them to hell and back and spreading democracy and wasting billions and billions of dollars more would be the next step, actually. But I'm simply saying that maybe improving relations with N. Korea can open a wide array of opportunities, whereas sanctioning him either broadly or even specifically with smart sanctions will either cause more N. Koreans to suffer, or only cause the cores of N. Korea to shift their assets around, and generate revenue from other sources and trades in an effort to get around such sanctions - thus, making the sanctions pointless.

I'm actually agreeing with Russia, where they stated that sanctions rarely work, and that continued talks to improve relations with other nations are much more productive. Maybe we could do the same, and in exchange pressure N. Korea to heel on oppression of its population and improve human rights, etc. and gradually slow (or even stop) its weaponizing programs of nuclear material. I agree that Kim Jong-Il is a bit of a megalomaniac to say the least, but treating him like a child with this "well if you won't listen then you're grounded" mentality has not and will not solve anything. It will only possibly prove his point of UN being on a hostile standpoint with N. Korea.

 

[Omnicron's Baklava Enterprises]

but my point here is that there is always a way around something. Kim Jong-Il has shown repeatedly that he is going to make more nukes. How are more sanctions going to stop him if he is that ambitious or determined?

Yet what if we set upon him smart sanctions that target his own finances? You seem to be looking at it through the fact that sanctions target supplies, not finances. We could deprive him of money.
If he then chooses to deprive his people of money for himself, then the U.N. would have reasons to set other rules upon North Korea.

Illegal trade, export, etc. already come from N. Korea, and it generates a good deal of revenue.

Yes, however, illegal sources come from outside of their country, thus these illegal 'sources' come by car, ship, or jet. On a jet, these sources could easily be monitored, especially outside of the country.

The U.S. Navy is monitoring a North Korean ship at sea under new U.N. sanctions that bar Pyongyang from exporting weapons, including missile parts and nuclear materials

Source: "Navy monitoring North Korean ship: U.S. officials"
Ships can easily be monitored, no problem there.

About these illegal sources, speaking on a more peaceful side, the U.N. could persuade North Korea to cease illegal trade, should they engage in it, or if they are in it right this moment. Yet this may not work, and sanctions may be one of the only good ways to go.

Curtailing North Korea's ability to earn hard currency from illegitimate and dangerous activities is one of the only effective ways to convince Pyongyang to abandon such pursuits and instead embrace legal international trade. Further economic pressure on the regime will also strengthen the position of the U.S. and its allies--South Korea, Japan, and Australia--in convincing North Korea that pursuing nuclear programs will increase rather than lessen its isolation and privation.

Source: "Curtailing North Korea's Illicit Activies"
North Korea seems to have hardly any way of getting around these financial pressures. Not only is the United States putting financial pressure on North Korea, but Australia, Japan, and even Taiwan are as well.
They have plans that state for strengthening activities such as monitoring ships, even seizing them along with jets and other ways of transporting illegal materials used for creating weapons.

You may be suggesting that they will trade illegally, but North Korea's general economy is faltering, and has been doing so for a while now. North Korea is only standing on the edge (financially) when they create nuclear weapons. Not even illegal trade will help Kim Jong-il now.

But I'm simply saying that maybe improving relations with N. Korea can open a wide array of opportunities, whereas sanctioning him either broadly or even specifically with smart sanctions will either cause more N. Koreans to suffer, or only cause the cores of N. Korea to shift their assets around, and generate revenue from other sources and trades in an effort to get around such sanctions - thus, making the sanctions pointless.

Maybe we could do the same, and in exchange pressure N. Korea to heel on oppression of its population and improve human rights, etc. and gradually slow (or even stop) its weaponizing programs of nuclear material. I agree that Kim Jong-Il is a bit of a megalomaniac to say the least, but treating him like a child with this "well if you won't listen then you're grounded" mentality has not and will not solve anything. It will only possibly prove his point of UN being on a hostile standpoint with N. Korea.

Kim Jong-il, although a tyrant, is intelligent, and will see the U.N. pressuring them to improve human rights, or slow their nuclear weapons programs, and will most likely hate the fact that he is being pressured. These two things that I've bolded seem to be opposites. Kim Jong-il will, yet again, view it as a 'hostile' action from the U.N., and thus will probably detach from them. This will not work either. In fact, this approach that you suggest seems that it may be less effective than the smart sanctions. Kim Jong-il will see it, and he'll withdraw.

 

[CStick]

sure, he may see it, and he may hate it. But, given what he could stand to gain, wouldn't it be worth more of a shot? Obviously what we are doing now is not working, since he continues to do as he has done for years now, despite overwhelming pressure and sanctions and flat-out global condemnation already.

And let's say that we do pass smart sanctions, and he still finds a way to divert assets around it (something criminals do every day). What would we do then?

 

[Omnicron's Baklava Enterprises]

Apologies for a possible bump, but I need to say:

Continually asking questions isn't going to work; try giving examples of how Kim Jong-il will get around smart sanctions.

Mix the questions with facts.

So can you give examples of how Kim Jong-il will move around these smart sanctions?