Robert Einhorn, the U.S.’ Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control has revealed that the U.S. is in the process of finalizing a package of sanctions against North Korea which it hopes will be strong enough to convince Pyongyang to change course and pursue denuclearization.
Speaking with reporters in Seoul, Einhorn explained, “One means to address these challenges is to increase the pressure felt by these two governments, so that they recognize that it’s in the best interest of their countries to meet their international obligations and forsake nuclear weapons.”
“Our hope is that these measures will be effective, that they will provide strong incentives for North Korea’s leaders to abide by their international obligations to not to pursue provocative activities and to fulfill completely their commitments to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula,” he added.
Over the weekend, some concerns were raised about rumors that the U.S. is planning to pursue sanctions through an executive order, thus bypassing domestic legislative processes, and that this somehow signified a weakening of the proposed sanctions. However, this was refuted by South Korean experts, who noted that an executive order may be better in terms of handing the U.S. government the ability to act quickly in the face of North Korean changes.
Kim Sung Han, a Professor of Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security at Korea University, analyzed during the phone call conversation with The Daily NK, “The domestic law and administrative order is a matter of flexibility in the United States’ policy, not to distinguish the level of the sanctions. In order for the U.S. to take the initiative and respond to changes quickly, an administrative order, which is free from the unnecessary intervention of Congress, is better.”
Experts also explained that if there is no change of attitude from North Korea, sanctions can continue through the legislation of domestic law.
This stands in contrast with the case of Iran, where domestic legislation on more general sanctions is needed, since Iran is far better integrated with the world economy than North Korea. As Einhorn put it, “The kind of measures that will persuade one government to be more reasonable, maybe different from the kind of measure that will persuade another government to be more reasonable.”
“So the idea is not to apply the same measures to governments but to take steps that are appropriate in each specific case.”
There will be an additional press conference at around 4PM local time, where Einhorn said more details of planned measures would be made available, after which Einhorn, accompanied by Daniel Glaser, the Treasury Department’s deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes heads to Tokyo on Tuesday.
