| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Congressmen submit bill to sanction N. Korea for nuclear test |
| 2009-08-03 |
| WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- A bill has been submitted to U.S. Congress for imposing an arms embargo on North Korea under a U.S. domestic law for the North's second nuclear test in May after one about three years earlier. The North Korea Sanctions Act of 2009 (HR 3423), introduced by Michael McMahon (D-NY) and Rep Bob Inglis (R-SC) on Thursday, calls on the Barack Obama administration to "impose certain sanctions on North Korea as a result of the detonation by that country of a nuclear explosive device on May 25, 2009" under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). The AECA bans arms shipments to any countries if the exports "would contribute to an arms race, aid in the development of weapons of mass destruction, support international terrorism, increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of conflict, or prejudice the development of bilateral or multilateral arms control or nonproliferation agreements or other arrangements." It also prevents U.S. governments and financial institutions from doing business with those countries under an arms embargo. North Korea has already been subject to international sanctions under a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted after the May 25 nuclear test. Under the resolution, the Security Council blacklisted five North Korean firms early last month, imposed a travel ban on and froze the assets of five North Korean officials, and banned the trade to and from North Korea of graphite for electrical discharge machining and aramid fiber, used in nuclear weapons and missiles. The introduction of HR 3423 also follows a U.S. Senate resolution adopted late last month to call on the Obama administration to "assess the effectiveness" of relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. The resolution calls for Obama to submit a report within 30 days on Pyongyang's record on weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism since it was removed from the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in October. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 The epitome of appearance over substance. AFAICR the last time the US sent arms to North Korea was in 1968. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-08-03 02:07 |