The United Nations Security Council voted on Wednesday to impose new sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test in September.
The council unanimously approved the resolution to cut North Korea's valuable coal exports to China, the only country thought to be purchasing North Korean coal, by 60 percent under a strict new sales cap. The resolution also bars exports of copper, nickel, silver, zinc, and the sale of statues by Pyongyang, Reuters reported.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said after the vote that the resolution would likely do little to persuade Pyongyang in the near future of halting its "relentless pursuit" of nuclear weapons. Still, she hailed the resolution for imposing "unprecedented costs" on the regime for repeatedly violating the council's embargo on nuclear weapons.
"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," Power said, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea conducted its latest and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9, two months after the Obama administration slapped sanctions on the nation's leader, Kim Jong Un.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the sanctions sent an "unequivocal message" that North Korea must end its "provocative actions and comply fully with its international obligations."
"Sanctions are only as effective as their implementation," he continued. "It is incumbent on all member states of the United Nations to make every effort to ensure that these sanctions are fully implemented."
The U.N. first imposed sanctions against North Korea in 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.