"US Expresses Concern Over Insufficient Capability to Fully Enforce UN Sanctions on North Korea"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The U.S. Department of State is reportedly concerned that UN member states lack the capacity to fully enforce sanctions against North Korea, according to the U.S. foreign affairs media outlet Foreign Policy (FP). The U.S. is also said to have urged its allies to impose additional sanctions within their sanction authorities.

On the 1st (local time), FP reported that in a report submitted to Congress last April, the U.S. Department of State pointed out that the international community's insufficient capacity to enforce North Korea sanctions is one of the most significant challenges to the full implementation of these sanctions.

The U.S. Department of State further urged allied countries to impose additional sanctions under their sanction authorities and stated that it is supporting foreign governments and private companies to identify and halt North Korea's illicit arms trafficking, luxury goods activities, coal and mineral trade, and money laundering, according to the report.

FP emphasized that the U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State, are frustrated with China's opposition to additional UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea, which has blocked U.S. efforts to sanction 23 vessels and 50 entities and individuals. FP also reported that amid the Biden administration’s lack of additional sanctions on North Korea, some experts are concerned that the U.S. may fall behind in sanctioning North Korean entities involved in money laundering and counterfeiting.

Bruce Klingner, senior fellow at the conservative U.S. think tank Heritage Foundation, criticized the Biden administration’s North Korea policy in an interview with FP, saying, "If the police chief doesn’t come to the police station to check if things are running properly, the police officers will just eat donuts and not leave the station."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.