Seoul - Arab Today
South Korea said Thursday it plans to unveil fresh unilateral sanctions against North Korea this week to tighten the screws on money flowing into Pyongyang, which is bent on nuclear and missile development.
The South Korean prime minister's office plans to announce new punitive measures in response to its September nuclear test on Friday, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. The move comes two days after the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a new package of sanctions.
"The government will push for all-out sanctions and coercive diplomacy against the North by taking swift steps, including drawing up additional unilateral measures in cooperation with our partners, such as the US, Japan and the European Union," spokesman of the foreign ministry, Cho June-hyuck told reporters at a regular press briefing.
"Our government will unveil those measures tomorrow. I know that the US and Japan will make public their own measures almost concurrently or at a similar time," he added.
The spokesman said that South Korea has had close consultations with the US, Japan and other countries through meetings and diverse channels in drawing up the additional sanctions, and that cooperation has also been under way to determine when to unveil them in a way that "maximizes the synergy effect." South Korea's unilateral sanctions are known to include blacklisting additional North Korean individuals and entities, and hurting maritime transportation, a government source said.
The move is aimed at making North Korea feel more pain by cutting off main sources of hard currency for the regime, the South Korean government added.
The UNSC decided Wednesday to impose a significant cap on Pyongyang's exports of coal and slap on other restrictions following its tough sanctions adopted in March over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests early this year.
Source: QNA