N. Korea appears to feel pain of sanctions

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se speaks during a forum hosted by alumni of Seoul National University in Seoul on April 20, 2016

SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) — North Korea appears to be suffering under the weight of expanded international sanctions against the regime, South Korea’s top diplomat said Wednesday.

“Signs are emerging that North Korea is feeling considerable pain due to the strongest-ever U.N. Security Council sanctions and other means of pressure,” Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said during a forum hosted by Seoul National University alumni.

He cited recent reports in North Korea’s state media that warn of a second “Arduous March,” a period of serious famine that killed some 2 million people in the mid-1990s as the communist country grappled with bungled economic policies, flooding and international isolation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

North Korea has also said the latest U.N. sanctions are barbaric and unheard of in the 70-year history of the United Nations.

The UNSC adopted the sanctions last month after Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket a month later in violation of previous U.N. resolutions. The sanctions include the mandatory inspection of all cargo going in and out of the North and a ban on the country’s exports of coal, iron and other mineral resources that serve as a key source of hard currency for the regime.

Yun drew a link between the sanctions and the mass defection of 13 North Korean employees from a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China earlier this month.

“(The defection) is unprecedented, and I believe influenced in part by the sanctions of the international community, including our own,” he said.

Still, the minister noted that North Korea has continued its provocative behavior, with an attempt to launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile last week and apparent preparations for a fifth nuclear test in the coming weeks.

“If the international community and our people unite, no threat or action by North Korea will let it have its way,” Yun said. “This will be the same beyond the current situation we face with the North Korean nuclear issue as we head toward reunification.”