On Friday 15 September, as North Korea carried out a new ballistic missile launch, the Council added three entities and one person to the list of people and entities sanctioned in connection with the North Korean ballistic and nuclear tests.
The Council's additions to this list involves the transposition of the targeted sanctions imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2375 (2017), which were adopted on 11 September. The three entities are the Propaganda and Agitation department, the Central Military Commission of the Worker's Party of Korea, and the Organisation and Guidance department, while the one person added to the list is Pak Yong Sik, a member of the Central Military Commission of the Worker's Party of Korea. The legal acts for this decision will be published in the Official Journal of 16 September, and there are now 63 people and 53 entities in total on the UN list of people and entities targeted by restrictive measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as listed by the UN. In addition, 41 people and 6 entities have been designated by the EU autonomously.
The Council still needs to transpose the economic measures contained in the resolution. "The transposition (...) is progressing rapidly", High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated in a press release condemning the ballistic missile test. " In addition, we will also work actively to ensure that all UN measures are fully implemented by the entire international community. Strict implementation by all is essential if the sanctions are to be effective", Mogherini stated.
Work on autonomous EU sanctions to be accelerated
Mogherini also announced that the EU would accelerate its work on the new autonomous sanctions. "We are already working on additional autonomous EU measures to complement the decisions taken by the United Nations. Our work will be accelerated even more by this latest launch", Mogherini announced, describing North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch as "a new outrageous provocation".
Mogherini stated that she would be in contact with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono in order to address this latest launch and to continue coordinating work. "We will keep working, through stronger economic and diplomatic pressure, to open up a political process to achieve the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means", she said, stating that the international community should continue to show restraint in the face of the continued provocations by Pyongyang.
On the morning of 15 September, North Korea launched a missile which flew over Japan, travelling 3,700km before landing the sea. The UN Security Council was expected to meet behind closed doors on Friday 15 September to again discuss North Korea. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)