North Korea sanctions

by Dramelin 7:00 PM 0 comments

Because only seven African countries, or 13 percent of African Union members, have participated in the implementation of UN sanctions, North Korea may deliberately target African countries as a circumvention strategy, Noland warned. Following North Korea`s sixth nuclear test over the weekend, the United Nations (UN) warned its members to "redouble efforts" to enforce existing sanctions against the pariah state but refrained from meting out new punishment. It may be surprising to some but Pyongyang has long fostered diplomatic, economic and military relations with various African countries, which have thrived even after the widespread international condemnation that followed North Korea`s first nuclear test in 2006. In November, the UN cut one of Pyongyang`s major income sources, coal exports, in response to a nuclear detonation in September. Indeed, an Africa pivot may be the only option left for the country officially known as the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as Beijing?its traditional ally?increasingly distances itself from the decades-old bilateral relationship amid international pressure.