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European Union publishes new N. Korea sanctions regulation to implement UNSCR 2270

I’ve previously written about the importance of Europe’s role in enforcing U.N. sanctions against North Korea. On March 5th, the EU designated 16 people and 12 entities under its existing North Korea sanctions program. Yesterday, it finally announced the publication of a new “restrictive measures” regulation to implement UNSCR 2270. Based on the summary, the new regulation follows last month’s Security Council resolution right down the line.

The measures extend, inter alia, export and import prohibitions to any item (except food or medicine) that could contribute to the development of the operational capabilities of the DPRK’s armed forces. Member states will be required to inspect all cargoes to and from the DPRK on their territories, to ban DPRK chartering of vessels or aircraft and to de-register vessels. They will have to ban flights carrying prohibited items and port calls of vessels engaged in violation of the relevant UNSC resolutions. They will also be required to ban exports from the DPRK of certain mineral products (including coal, iron and gold) and exports to the DPRK of aviation fuel. Member states will be required to expel DPRK representatives and third country nationals involved in the DPRK’s illicit programmes (as identified by the relevant UNSC resolutions).

Moreover, additional financial measures being introduced include:

  • an asset freeze on government entities associated with the DPRK’s nuclear or ballistic missile programmes or other activities prohibited by UNSC resolutions

  • an obligation to close:

    • existing branches, subsidiaries or representative offices of DPRK banks;
    • existing joint ventures, ownership interests and correspondent banking relationships with DPRK banks; and
    • existing branches, subsidiaries or banking accounts in DPRK if they could contribute to DPRK’s illicit programme

  • a ban on private financial support for trade if such financial support could contribute to DPRK’s illicit programmes

The new regulation will become effective when it’s officially published in the EU’s official journal later today. The restrictions on exports and the requirement to inspect all cargo going to North Korea should also limit the supply of European luxury goods to North Korea, although some will invariably continue to leak in through China. It will be interesting to see if the new regulation also expands the definition of “luxury goods.”

The provisions that bear the most careful watching, however, are those that affect finance. The termination of correspondent relationships and the closing of certain accounts should trap large sums of money in European banks. If the dollar is by far the world’s most important reserve currency, the Euro is the second-most important, so this action closes off the most important remaining avenue of escape for those funds.

The Wall Street Journal also quotes EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini as saying that the EU “is still considering additional EU-only sanctions on top of the U.N. measures,” and cites unnamed officials as saying that “some preparatory work has started on this.” Previously, the EU has gone beyond U.N. requirements by blocking North Korea’s national insurance company, which is suspected of defrauding European insurers out of millions of dollars.

One important measure the EU could take would be to expel North Korean forced laborers. This working paper, by the North Korean Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea, documents the surprisingly widespread use of North Korean labor by EU nations, and notes that North Korean laborers in the EU earn more cash for Pyongyang per capita than those in China, Africa, or the Middle East. Two of the worst offenders are Malta and Poland.

The EU could also ban the sale of equipment that can be used for surveilliance or censorship, or by the security forces for political repression. According to multiple reports in the Daily NK, a German company is supplying North Korea with equipment to track down illegal cell phones. The EU should also implement the U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations by freezing any assets owned or controlled by individual North Korean officials found to be responsible for human rights violations.

The single most important step Europe could take would be to cut off North Korea’s access to the SWIFT financial messaging service. In the case of Iran sanctions, that measure was one of the most effective in putting financial pressure on that regime.

The new regulation will not completely terminate North Korea’s financial shenanigans on the continent, however. For example, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, two states where large North Korean slush funds are reportedly held, aren’t EU members. North Korean prison camp survivors have called on Switzerland to freeze North Korean assets. The new EU regulation should increase pressure on both states to fully implement UNSCR 2270, and both the U.S. and South Korea can add their own diplomatic voices to that pressure.