This weekend, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution mandating stiffer sanctions on North Korea for its repeated defiance of U.N. resolutions requiring the abandonment of its nuclear and missile programs. Heritage analyst Bruce Klingner had the following analysis of the new sanctions:

 “The resolution is another good, albeit incremental, step toward augmenting pressure on the regime. Most notably, the latest resolution bans the export of coal, one of North Korea’s largest exports, and overall, the resolution could eliminate one-third of North Korea’s export revenue, if fully implemented.

“The Trump administration has been moving toward imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese entities violating U.S. laws – a necessary move while China continues to flaunt those laws in its financial dealings with North Korea. Hopefully Beijing’s agreement to the tougher U.N. resolution does not come at the cost of Washington continuing to pull its punches on enforcing its laws and defending the U.S. financial system.”