US Imposes New Sanctions on North Korea, But Overseas Enforcement Is a Struggle

US Demands World Expel North Koreans

The US continues to try to ratchet up the tensions with North Korea, despite diplomatic progress being made between the two Koreas, and the Treasury Department announced new sanctions Thursday against 16 people and six North Korean-flagged ships.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also calls on all nations, particularly China and Russia, to expel all North Koreans from their territory, accusing them of trying to fund the nuclear weapons program by soliciting funds abroad and evading sanctions.

International interest in enforcement sanctions, particularly those imposed by the US, has its limits, however, and  recent reports suggest that North Korea has found itself new ways to evade sanctions limiting their ability to export coal.

Coal exported from North Korea to Russia, according to Reuters, was then passed on to South Korea and Japan, two of the nations that present themselves as most interested in enforcing the sanctions, but which appear less eager to go digging for technical violations through intermediaries.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.