Unification Minister Lee In-young has proposed a comprehensive review and re-evaluation of the effects of sanctions on North Korea, the British Financial Times (FT) reported on the 26th.
Unification Minister Lee In-young gives a congratulatory remark at the Korean Peninsula Life Safety Community Seminar held at the Korean Red Cross in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 23rd. News 1
“We are watching the situation in North Korea very carefully and with concern,” Lee said in an FT interview, and there is a possibility of a humanitarian crisis. “I don’t think that North Korea will face a food shortage as severe as during the famine in the 1990s, but the international community should consider whether the North Korean food supply situation will be sustainable in the future.”
“I need to see if it contributes to sanctions and denuclearization”
FT “The Secretary proposed that in preparation for a potential crisis, the effectiveness of sanctions enforced by the United States since 2016 should be re-evaluated.”I explained. Specifically, the Minister said, “For five years, strong sanctions have been imposed, and now it seems the time to see whether or not the sanctions positively contribute to the successful denuclearization process in North Korea. Through a comprehensive review, the impact of sanctions on the general North Korean people should also be evaluated.”
FT said, “The Ministry of Unification is working on a plan to receive international support for railroad and road cooperation with North Korea,” and “Minister Lee has expanded the exceptions to humanitarian aid in sanctions for non-commercial and public infrastructure projects, or has greater flexibility. I suggested that there is a need to demonstrate the need.” FT introduced the premise that “as long as Korea can prove that North Korea will not use it for military or nuclear development,” Lee said.
“The impact on North Korean residents should also be evaluated”
However, this may sound like the Korean Unification Minister is expressing a negative view on the effectiveness of the sanction itself while the Biden administration is reviewing its policy toward North Korea. FT also interpreted that “South Korea has questioned the effectiveness of the sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear development.”
Sanctions against North Korea are called’smart sanctions’. This is because it is a target sanction that limits the impact on people’s livelihoods and commits money that the leadership can use for nuclear and missile development or for governmental funds. In order to prevent damage to civilians in the process, all sanctions are subject to humanitarian exceptions. Humanitarian aid is possible even in the current sanctions system, but the reason it is not being made is because North Korea is rejecting it.
The Financial Times of the UK on the 26th of the interview with Unification Minister Lee In-young. FT website capture
However, for this reason, Minister Lee’s proposal to review the entire sanctions again is likely to be interpreted as shaking the foundations of the sanctions system. According to his words, it is difficult to establish sanctions not only against North Korea but also against any country in the first place.
Minister Lee also said with the intention that it could guarantee the prevention of diversion by North Korea for the exception of sanctions. However, the reason why the UN sanctions on North Korea comprehensively block dual-use goods is because there is a great concern about conversion. Nevertheless, the fact that South Korea guarantees that North Korea, which professes nuclear weapons, will not do anything else with the materials it obtains, may be a dangerous idea in the international community that is directly linked to South Korean national credibility.
The target for sanctions is money going to Kim Jong-un
One person who has been directly involved in the process of preparing sanctions against North Korea said, “The core of international sanctions against North Korea since 2017 is to stop the money flowing to Kim Jong-un, the party, and the military.” It is not very affected.” “Especially, since before and after the 2018 North Korea-US Singapore summit, the sanction system has not been thoroughly followed as before, so it is even more unreasonable to directly connect this to the damage to the public. It means that the lives of North Koreans are rather largely caused by border blockades and flood damage caused by Corona 19.
In terms of denuclearization, Minister Lee made a remark that seemed to be questioning the effectiveness of sanctions, but even former President Donald Trump, who discussed denuclearization after a summit meeting with Chairman Kim Jong-un, did not doubt the effectiveness of the sanctions. A former diplomat said, “While many comments were made about the essential content of negotiations and countermeasures against denuclearization, the Trump administration as a whole agrees that the solid sanctions system brought North Korea to the dialogue table. He said, “Because of the negotiations based on this, President Trump also maintained a firm position that sanctions could never be touched until a decisive denuclearization measure.”
Reporter Yoo Ji-hye [email protected]
