Following increased nuclear weapon testing by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield has called for increased sanctions against Pyongyang and Kim Jong-un. On Wednesday, May 11th, Thomas-Greenfield addressed the UN Security Council (UNSC) and stated that the U.S. is committed to a diplomatic path in conjunction with the DPRK. However, Thomas-Greenfield also said that DPRK sanctions relief is untenable and that previously established ‘trigger sanctions’ against petroleum exports to the DPRK must be applied. Thomas-Greenfield confirmed that the DPRK has conducted 17 ballistic missile launches thus far in 2022. Russian deputy U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun have repeatedly spoken against the prospect of further sanctions against the DPRK. They have called for sanctions relief multiple times. 

U.S. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield spoke against sanctions relief on Wednesday, stating that: “Offering sanctions relief, without substantive diplomatic progress, would only funnel more revenue to the regime and accelerate the realization of its WMD and ballistic weapons goals” and that “we cannot wait until [North Korea] conducts additional provocative, illegal, and dangerous acts — like a nuclear test.” Chinese Ambassador Zhang called out the U.S. in their UNSC statement, saying that the U.S. “remains enamored superstitiously of the magic power of sanctions” and that the U.S. “holds the key to breaking the deadlock.” Russia’s Evstigneeva echoed Zhang’s sentiment, stating that, “Unfortunately, so far the council has only tightened restrictions ignoring the positive signals from North Korea.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reiterated his commitment to expanding the DPRK’s nuclear arsenal. Kim stated that, “We will continue to take steps to strengthen and develop our nation’s nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace.”

The U.S. and its ambassador Thomas-Greenfield are fulfilling the UNSC mandate by attempting to garner council support to enact Security Council Resolution 2397. The global community would view silence by the U.S. in light of increased nuclear armament and increased aggression by the DPRK as tacit approval. If the U.S. were not to pursue increased sanctions against the DPRK, it would signal to other states with WMDs that “undermining the non-proliferation regime” will garner no negative ramifications. 

Resolution 2397, which was unanimously adopted, stated that the Council would levy further, harsher sanctions against the DPRK if an ICBM launch were to occur. It was adopted in December of 2017 and called for severe sectoral sanctions and restraints on the sale of crude oil to the DPRK. The last denuclearization talks that were negotiated with the DPRK stalled since the 2019 summit, wherein former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un disagreed over demands for sanctions relief. In April of 2022, the DPRK hosted a military parade to celebrate the founding of its army. In this parade, Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his commitment to increasing the nuclear capabilities of the DPRK. He stated that, “In preparation for the turbulent political and military situation and all kinds of crises in the future… we will further increase our nuclear force at the highest possible speed.”

The U.S. has been put into a precarious position regarding the DPRK’s normalization of deviance in the international arena. While levying further sanctions against the DPRK until diplomatic negotiations can begin is the logical course of action, interference by Russia and China will foil these goals. As all three states have veto power in the UNSC (along with the U.K. and France), the chances of the committee agreeing to a unified mandate are minuscule. Given the Russia-Ukraine crisis and increased tensions, committee gridlock is probable. In the case of UNSC gridlock, the U.S. may have to either partially enact Resolution 2397 or engage in sanctions relief to bring the DPRK to the negotiation table once more.