Writing at the blog of the (cough, cough) Korea Economic Institute, Klingner, a former CIA analyst and a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, hammers home the weakness of our North Korea sanctions and their enforcement. While still at the State Department, Campbell realized that “Burma had much more in the way of sanctions” than North Korea and correctly, if belatedly, concluded that “Clearly we have not been successful at putting substantial pressure on North Korea [and] it would be possible for us...

The spokesman said that the U.S. has instituted an “unparalleled international sanctions regime that has successfully impeded proliferation, constrained the growth of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, and driven up the cost Pyongyang’s misbehavior.” [Yonhap] What utter nonsense. It would be charitable to accuse him of lying. I doubt he has any idea what he’s even talking about.

… by staying in the hotel of a regime crony whose assets are blocked, but only because of the travel exemption at 31 C.F.R. § 537.210(d). Still, doesn’t patronizing a bloody-handed crony send a pretty lousy message — especially given Burma’s unsteady progress toward reform?

become more adept at sanctions evasion, and sounds bearish about the prospects for success. I have no doubt that the first part of Park’s thesis is correct. I’m sure Pyongyang has diversified its income streams since Banco Delta Asia, which means that it will be harder to get back to where we were in 2005. On the other hand, I don’t think it will be impossible for sanctions to work, either. Al Qaeda, Iran, and the Medellin Cartel all have smart money launderers,...

More than a year after Panamanian authorities uncovered a massive shipment of Cuban weapons on its way to North Korea, in clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. and Treasury have finally done something about it. That something could contain the makings of one part of an effective sanctions strategy, but it will still probably disappoint some powerful members of Congress in both parties. As I noted yesterday, and after public criticism by former head U.N. sanctions...