Friday 22 September 2017

Developments in and out of the UN - 09/21/2017

New US executive order to target foreign banks doing business with North Korea – Trump

RT,
21 September, 2017

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that gives the US broad new powers to sanction individuals, companies and financial institutions that facilitate trade with North Korea.

"I am announcing a new executive order to sign that significantly expands authorities to target individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea,” Trump said.

"Our new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind," he told reporters.

The announcement by Trump was made ahead of a luncheon meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on the UN sidelines.

Trump also said that China's Central Bank had ordered other Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.


National Security Adviser McMaster says  will make a sanctions-related announcement later todayhttps://on.rt.com/8nst 

South Korean President Moon tells the  that sanctions were needed to bring  to the negotiating tablehttp://on.rt.com/8nst 

He said North Korea's textiles, fishing, information technology and manufacturing industries were among possible targets.

Trump said the measure would also disrupt other trade avenues for North Korea, the idea being to halt its nuclear weapons program. The president said "tolerance for this disgraceful practice must end now."

During the announcement on Thursday, Trump was asked by reporters if dialogue was still possible with Pyongyang, and he replied"Why not?"

The UN Security Council has already passed substantial economic sanctions against North Korea, including targeting shipments of oil and other fuel used in missile testing, after Pyongyang reportedly tested a hydrogen bomb.

Under the UN resolution passed on September 11, all oil imports are banned and international assets of the government and its leaders have been frozen. The resolution also banned North Korea from importing natural gas liquids and condensates. It also bans all textile exports and prohibits any country from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers – two key sources of hard currency for the country.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said those measures have "strangled their economic situation" but that it would "take a little bit of time" for the impact to be felt.


Haley said the Trump administration believes the new sanctions combined with previous measures would ban over 90 percent of North Korea’s exports reported in 2016.

Resolution 2371, passed in August 2017, banned all exports of coal, iron, lead, and seafood. It also imposed new restrictions on North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank and prohibited any increase in the number of North Koreans working in foreign countries.




US potential withdrawal from Iran deal to send ‘worst signal’ to Pyongyang – Nebenzia


US potential withdrawal from Iran deal to send ‘worst signal’ to Pyongyang – Nebenzia
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasilly Nebenzia. © Stephanie Keith / Getty Images / AFP

If Washington rips up Iran’s nuclear deal, it will send the wrong message to North Korea and shake its faith in diplomacy, Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia said at the UN meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"Iran did find itself linked to DPRK [North Korea] because if the United States leaves the JCPOA [nuclear deal] this will be the worst signal we can send to North Korea," Nebenzia said.

He also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the landmark deal between five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany with Iran – a “symbol of the triumph of multi-party diplomacy.”

Nebenzia went on stress that the deal serves as an example that even the most complex international issues can be solved through negotiations, provided there is enough political will.

He lamented that “recently, we have seen irresponsible, unilateral attempts to derail this breakthrough, collective agreement,” while expressing hope that the “reason prevails” and the JCPOA will stay intact and be implemented in full.


Responding to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s allegations that Russia is impeding efforts aimed at the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, including by “seeking to weaken the International Atomic Energy Agency’s independence in investigating clandestine nuclear programs,” Nebenzia said the claims took him aback.

It was a surprise today to learn from the Secretary of State that Russia is undermining the IAEA, this is of course something new to us,” he said.

Speaking at the meeting, Tillerson accused Moscow of intention to “weaken global norms and undercut efforts to hold nations accountable.” With that he did not specify what nations Moscow allegedly helped.


The US top diplomat further called on the Russian government to abide by its commitments on nuclear security and arms control, if “Russia wants to restore its role as a credible actor in resolving the situation with North Korea.”

For his part, Nebenzia pointed out that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is at risk of spinning out of control at any minute, adding that diplomatic efforts are needed immediately to stop the crisis.

It’s time to start now, without losing any time, not waiting when the logic of confrontation prevails,” he said. The diplomat argued that the lack of a common security mechanism in northeastern Asia, the nuclear program development by Pyongyang, as well as rampant military activity in the region justified by it, are all to blame in the current flare-up of tensions.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, fired back at US President Donald Trump’s belligerent rhetoric on North Korea. In a speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this week, Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea in case of military confrontation between the two countries, while labelling Kim a “rocket man… on a suicide mission.”


Trump’s warmongering speech only persuaded Kim that he is on the right course, the North Korean leader was quoted as saying.

His [Trump] remarks which described the US option through straightforward expression of his will have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last,” Kim said in a statement, distributed by the country’s state-run KCNA news agency, calling Trump’s behavior “mentally deranged” and vowing to respond to “the most ferocious declaration of war in history” with the “highest level of hardline countermeasure in history.”


Russian Minister Of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov Speech To UN


Russia rebukes Trump, says to ‘defend’ Iran nuclear deal



Trump Speech won't solve Korea Crisis! Lavrov Explains




NEWS CONFERENCE with Ambassador Nikki Haley on NORTH KOREA/IRAN 9/21/17

Right Side Broadcasting Network




China's central bank tells banks to stop doing business with North Korea: sources


21 September, 2017

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s central bank has told banks to strictly implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea, four sources told Reuters, amid U.S. concerns that Beijing has not been tough enough over Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear tests.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea have ratcheted up after the sixth and most powerful nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang on Sept. 3 prompted the United Nations Security Council to impose further sanctions last week.

Chinese banks have come under scrutiny for their role as a conduit for funds flowing to and from China’s increasingly isolated neighbor.

The sources said banks were told to stop providing financial services to new North Korean customers and to wind down loans with existing customers, following tighter sanctions against Pyongyang by the United Nations.

The sources said lenders were asked to fully implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea and were warned of the economic losses and reputational risks if they did not do so.

Chinese banks received the document on Monday, the sources said.

China’s central bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At present, management of North Korea-related business has become an issue of national-level politics and national security,” according to the document seen by the sources.

The document directed banks to explain to any North Korean customers that “our bank is fulfilling our international obligations and implementing United Nations sanctions against North Korea. As such, we refuse to handle any individual loans connected to North Korea.”

The document did not specify whether existing North Korean account holders could still deposit or remove money from their accounts.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions on Thursday that open the door wider to blacklisting people and entities doing business with North Korea, including its shipping and trade networks, further tightening the screws on Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile program.

Trump stopped short of going after North Korea’s biggest trading partner, China, and praised its central bank for ordering Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.

Frustrated that China had not done more to rein in North Korea, the Trump administration considered new sanctions in July on small Chinese banks and other firms doing business with Pyongyang, two senior U.S. officials told Reuters.

China’s Big Four state-owned banks have stopped providing financial services to new North Korean clients, Reuters reported last week, with some measures beginning as early as the end of last year.


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