UN Sanctions North Korea by Cutting Coal Exports 60 Percent

The U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday in an attempt to hamper the country's nuclear program.

The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, calls for a 60-percent cut to North Korea's coal exports, with an "annual sales cap of $400.9 million or 7.5 million metric tonnes, whichever is lower," Reuters reported.

The latest sanctions come in response to the fifth nuclear test Sept. 9 by North Korea, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"No resolution in New York will likely, tomorrow, persuade Pyongyang to cease its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons. But this resolution imposes unprecedented costs on the DPRK regime for defying this Council's demands," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power said, according to the news agency.

"In total, this resolution will slash by at least $800 million per year the hard currency that the DPRK has to fund its prohibited weapons programs, which constitutes a full 25 percent of the DPRK's entire export revenues," she said.

The unanimous decision included China, which is North Korea's primary coal buyer.

"China seems to have judged that reducing the coal imports will not upend the North Korean economy and cause social unrest and flows of refugees into China, an outcome it most fears," The New York Times reported.

The sanctions also ban certain items for import by North Korea, including certain luxury goods and equipment and calls on the country's diplomatic missions to have only one bank account, The Times said.

The agreement also bans the export of metals such as copper, nickel, silver, and zinc; designates 11 government officials and 10 entities for targeted sanctions; and prohibits the sale of new vessels and helicopters to North Korea, CBS News reported.

Some experts have predicted that North Korea will escalate its nuclear program testing during President-elect Donald Trump's first year in office to provoke Trump, CBS News said.

"The bigger uncertainty is what posture Mr. Trump will take toward North Korea and Mr. Kim — and, by extension, toward Beijing," The Times noted.

During a campaign rally in January, Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "maniac."

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