US seeks ban on luxury, military items for N Korea

NUCLEAR ASIA

The United States has proposed stringent UN sanctions against North Korea, including a trade ban on military and luxury items, the power to inspect all cargo entering or leaving the country, and freezing assets connected with its weapons programmes.

Those proposals were among several ideas for a Security Council resolution that the United States shared with council diplomats after North Korea announced it had conducted a nuclear test. A copy of the document was obtained by AP.

The document says that the United States wants the resolution to fall under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which deals explicitly with threats to international peace and security, as well as acts of aggression.

Chapter 7 grants the council the authority to impose a range of measures which include breaking diplomatic ties and imposing economic and military sanctions to taking military action.Military action, however, is far from anyone's minds.

"We believe that highly provocative act requires a very strong resolution explicitly under Chapter 7 that provides for sanctions against the North Korean regime," the document said.

Among the ideas are proposals to:

* Prohibit trade in materials that could be used to make or deliver weapons of mass destruction.

* Require states make sure that North Korea not use their territory or entities for proliferation or illicit activities. Financial transactions that North Korea could use to support those programmes would also be banned.

* States would have to freeze all assets related to North Korea's weapons and missile programmes, as well as any other illicit activities it conducts.

* Authorise inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea to limit proliferation.

* Ban trade with North Korea in luxury goods and military items.