by Editor | May 25, 2021 | World
United Nations : The UN has banned four ships from visiting any global port, after they were found violating sanctions imposed on North Korea, the media reported.
Hugh Griffiths, co-ordinator of a UN panel on North Korean sanctions, on Monday night described the move as unprecedented, reports the BBC.
The ships were reportedly the Petrel 8, Hao Fan 6, Tong San 2 and Jie Shun.
According to the MarineTraffic website, a maritime database that monitors the movement of vessels, Petrel 8 is registered in Comoros, Hao Fan 6 in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Tong San 2 in North Korea. The registered country of Jie Shun was not listed.
Griffiths said the ships were found “transporting prohibited goods”.
The ban was announced following a UN meeting earlier on Monday.
In August, a UN resolution banned exports of coal, seafood and iron ore from North Korea, reports the BBC.
Sanctions were expanded last month in response to Pyongyang’s sixth and largest nuclear test yet, to include the export of textiles and North Korean guest workers, as well as a cap on oil imports.
—IANS
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | World
Kim Jong-un
Seoul : North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has lauded his country’s nuclear weapons programme as the best way to defend its sovereignty and counter threats from the US.
Speaking to the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang on Saturday, Kim Jong-un said “nuclear weapons of North Korea are a precious fruition borne by its people’s bloody struggle for defending the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear threats of the US imperialists”, Efe reported citing state news agency KCNA.
Kim, also the chairman of the WPK, said Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, which has led to multiple missile tests this year as well as the detonation of a hydrogen bomb, was “safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia”.
He added his country’s nuclear ambitions have provided the foundations for strong economic development, despite sanctions imposed by the “US imperialists and their vassal forces” to force North Korea into abandoning its weapons programme.
During the plenary session, which is held at least once a year, the North Korean leader’s younger sister Kim Yo-jong was elected to the party’s politburo, a sign of her rising importance and clout within the North Korean regime.
Choe Ryong-hae, a close aide of the leader, joined the party’s Central Military Commission, while Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho was appointed to the central committee’s politburo, according to the state agency.
—IANS
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | World
Donald Trump
Washington : US President Donald Trump has announced new travel restrictions for eight countries including North Korea, replacing the previous ban on six Muslim-majority countries, citing threats to national security posed by letting their citizens into Washington.
Starting next month, most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, Venezuela and North Korea will be banned from entering the US, Trump said in a proclamation released on Sunday night.
“Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet,” Trump tweeted just after the proclamation was released.
In a statement, the White House called the new restrictions a “critical step toward establishing an immigration system that protects Americans’ safety and security in an era of dangerous terrorism and transnational crime,” CNN reported.
“We cannot afford to continue the failed policies of the past, which present an unacceptable danger to our country.
“My highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and in issuing this new travel order, I am fulfilling that sacred obligation,” Trump said in the White House statement.
For the last three months, the administration used an executive order to ban foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan — from entering the US unless they had a “bona fide” relationship with a person or entity in the country.
Individuals with that “bona fide” exception, such as a foreign grandparent of a US citizen, can still apply for visas until October 18. After that date, the new restrictions will begin.
According to the new list, travel will be broadly suspended, while in other cases, travellers will have to undergo enhanced screening and vetting requirements.
For instance, foreign nationals from North Korea are banned, but a student from Iran will be allowed in, subject to “enhanced screening and vetting requirements”, CNN quoted the White House statement as saying.
However, no current validly issued green cards, visas or travel documents will be revoked.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that with the new restrictions, “the President is carrying out his duty to protect the American people.
“The State Department will coordinate with other federal agencies to implement these measures in an orderly manner… We will continue to work closely with our allies and partners who share our commitment to national and global security.”
A revised travel ban effecting those from six-Muslim majority countries officially expired earlier on Sunday, reports CNN.
Trump signed the initial travel ban during his first week in office, but it was met with immediate legal challenges, which have continued to hinder implementation of the full scope of the executive order.
The administration released a second version in March, which included substantial changes.
The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the legality of the travel ban next month.
—IANS
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | World
Donald Trump
New York : US President Donald Trump yesterday said that he was putting more sanctions on North Korea, the country which has been carrying ballistic missile and nuclear tests in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.
His statement comes two days after he warned North Korea of “total destruction” if its leader Kim Jong-Un, whom he mockingly described as a “Rocket Man”, continued with his provocative behaviour.
“We will be putting more sanctions on North Korea,” Trump told reporters in response to a question during his bilateral meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
North Korea fired a missile over Japan earlier this month and tested a hydrogen bomb, prompting Trump to insist that “all options were on the table” in an implied threat of pre- emptive military action.
In his maiden address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said that no nation on Earth has an interest in seeing “this band of criminals” arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles.
The UN Security Council recently held two unanimous 15- to-0 votes adopting hard-hitting resolutions against North Korea, he said.
—NNN-PTI
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | World
Seoul : North Korea on Wednesday criticised the latest set of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear weapons programme, calling them a heinous provocation and a full-scale economic blockade.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry said that the new sanctions were “a product of heinous provocation aimed at depriving the country of its legitimate right for self-defense and completely suffocating its state and people through full-scale economic blockade”, Efe news reported.
The statement published by state news agency KCNA “categorically” rejected the sanctions, and pointed out that they would “strengthen (North Korea’s) resolve” to aggressively pursue its nuclear weapons program “at a faster pace without the slightest diversion until this fight to the finish is over”.
The statement also said it would “redouble efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and right to existence”.
The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously approved a new round of sanctions aimed at stifling North Korea’s economy, which includes limitations on Pyongyang’s petroleum and by-product imports as well as a ban on its textile exports.
The sanctions are less drastic than what was initially intended by the US, who also called for a ban on UN member countries selling gas, oil and refined petroleum products to North Korea.
Russia and China opposed certain conditions in the draft resolutions, opening a new round of negotiations which concluded with a decision to curtail crude oil sales to the Communist state rather than prohibiting it completely.
Together with previous sets of sanctions, which imposed an embargo on coal, iron, fish and seafood exports, North Korea is expected to lose $2.7 billion or about 90 per cent of its sales abroad, according to estimates by the US.
The UN Security Council approved the resolution after North Korea on September 3 detonated a hydrogen bomb at a nuclear testing facility.
—IANS
