+ A
A -
AFP
Washington
The United States on Tuesday sharply criticized China for not enforcing sanctions on North Korea and vowed to step up its own efforts, as hopes fade for a last-minute breakthrough under outgoing President Donald Trump.
The State Department launched a new website, DPRKrewards.com, that will offer payouts of up to $5 million for tips to boost sanctions on North Korea, including on businesses in China.
“I want to tell you more are forthcoming,” Alex Wong, the US deputy special representative on North Korea, said of sanctions.
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Wong acknowledged that Pyongyang has not yet taken “any concrete steps toward denuclearization” and voiced alarm over its unveiling of a massive long-range missile at a parade in October.
“Lifting sanctions and pumping more revenue into the DPRK while its missile and nuclear production facilities continue to hum is something we will never do,” said Wong, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
His hard-nosed assessment stands in contrast to the rosy statements by Trump, who has boasted that he prevented a catastrophic war and said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
But Wong mostly took aim at China, a frequent target of the Trump administration, as he accused Beijing of ignoring UN sanctions that it itself voted for at the Security Council over its ally’s missile and nuclear programs.
“The premature sanctions relief that Beijing can’t achieve through the diplomatic front door, it is instead trying to achieve through the back door,” Wong said.
“The examples of this chronic failure are numerous, growing and worrying.”
He said that US vessels provided information to Beijing 46 times since 2019 about North Korean fuel-smuggling in Chinese waters, and in the past year observed 555 cases of North Korean shipments of coal of other sanctioned exports to China.
“On none of these occasions did the Chinese authorities act to stop these illicit imports. Not once,” Wong said.
Wong said that 20,000 North Korean workers still worked in China, going against UN-backed efforts to stop what is widely seen as slave labor that the regime exports for revenue.
China has been pushing to ease sanctions on North Korea, believing the regime should see incentives for denuclearization commitments, and is widely seen as fearing an economic implosion of its impoverished neighbor.
Trump has spoken in glowing terms about Kim, saying the two of them “fell in love” after their first summit in Singapore and could reach a historic deal.
Washington
The United States on Tuesday sharply criticized China for not enforcing sanctions on North Korea and vowed to step up its own efforts, as hopes fade for a last-minute breakthrough under outgoing President Donald Trump.
The State Department launched a new website, DPRKrewards.com, that will offer payouts of up to $5 million for tips to boost sanctions on North Korea, including on businesses in China.
“I want to tell you more are forthcoming,” Alex Wong, the US deputy special representative on North Korea, said of sanctions.
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Wong acknowledged that Pyongyang has not yet taken “any concrete steps toward denuclearization” and voiced alarm over its unveiling of a massive long-range missile at a parade in October.
“Lifting sanctions and pumping more revenue into the DPRK while its missile and nuclear production facilities continue to hum is something we will never do,” said Wong, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
His hard-nosed assessment stands in contrast to the rosy statements by Trump, who has boasted that he prevented a catastrophic war and said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
But Wong mostly took aim at China, a frequent target of the Trump administration, as he accused Beijing of ignoring UN sanctions that it itself voted for at the Security Council over its ally’s missile and nuclear programs.
“The premature sanctions relief that Beijing can’t achieve through the diplomatic front door, it is instead trying to achieve through the back door,” Wong said.
“The examples of this chronic failure are numerous, growing and worrying.”
He said that US vessels provided information to Beijing 46 times since 2019 about North Korean fuel-smuggling in Chinese waters, and in the past year observed 555 cases of North Korean shipments of coal of other sanctioned exports to China.
“On none of these occasions did the Chinese authorities act to stop these illicit imports. Not once,” Wong said.
Wong said that 20,000 North Korean workers still worked in China, going against UN-backed efforts to stop what is widely seen as slave labor that the regime exports for revenue.
China has been pushing to ease sanctions on North Korea, believing the regime should see incentives for denuclearization commitments, and is widely seen as fearing an economic implosion of its impoverished neighbor.
Trump has spoken in glowing terms about Kim, saying the two of them “fell in love” after their first summit in Singapore and could reach a historic deal.
