Editorial: A welcome China joins UN sanctions against North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, uses binoculars to look at the South's territory from an observation post at the military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. (Mar. 7, 2013) Credit: AP
With North Korea's new leader blustering that he will rain nuclear fire on the United States, the United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to impose new economic sanctions on the rogue nation.
What's different this time is that China, North Korea's lone remaining major trading partner, is on board. It negotiated the latest sanctions with the United States, signaling that it is losing patience with its erratic neighbor. The vise is tightening.
This solidarity is the best response to the nuclear-weapons test North Korea conducted last month in defiance of UN resolutions, international sanctions and other promises. The new constraints on trade, travel and financial transactions will be layered atop tough sanctions already in place. Losing its best friend might be the best incentive yet to get the rogue nation to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
