UK secures new EU sanctions against North Korea
Tough new European sanctions on North Korea are expected to be agreed today (16 October) when EU foreign ministers sign up to fresh UK proposals.
Foreign Minister Boris Johnson with French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Slovenian Minister for Foreign Affairs Karel Erjavec.
The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will join his 27 EU counterparts in Luxembourg today to sign off measures taking aim at income streams supporting North Korea’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The sanctions also include expanding the ban on EU investment to all sectors in North Korea, ending the EU export of oil to the country, and adding more names to the list of regime officials and companies that are subject to asset freezes and travel bans.
The measures will also review the current list of banned luxury goods, and lower the amount of personal payments that can be sent to North Korea from €15,000 to €5,000.
EU foreign ministers will also place tighter restrictions on North Korean workers in the EU, with a view to stopping money being sent back that could be used by the regime to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programme.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:
North Korea continues to pose an unacceptable threat to the international community, which is why the UK, working closely with our European allies, has secured a set of stringent new sanctions upon the regime.
As I have said before, the North Korean regime must bear full responsibility for the measures that the international community is enacting against it, including these sanctions.
Maximising diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea is the most effective way to pressure Pyongyang to halt its illegal and aggressive actions.
Background
To add further impact to the UK’s bilateral efforts, we have contributed to a European Union External Action (EEAS) proposal that it and EU member states should carry out parallel demarches in countries at risk of sanctions evasion by North Korean entities.
Additionally, the UK has instructed its diplomatic missions to lobby for urgent and comprehensive enforcement of UN sanctions against North Korea by those countries where the North Korean regime is most likely to try to evade sanctions.
There are no North Korean workers present in the UK.
Further information
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