Clifford Chance

UN Security Council Ratchets Up North Korea Sanctions in Resolution 2397 (EU version)

3 January 2018

On 22 December 2017, the fifteen members of the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2397 to enhance sanctions against North Korea in response to its 28 November 2017 launch of a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, bringing international multilateral sanctions closer in line with existing US and EU sanctions against the North Korean regime.

Under the new sanctions, UN member states will further restrict sales of oil and refined petroleum products to North Korea, repatriate North Korean workers earning income abroad, and cease trading in several other sectors critical to the North Korean economy. UN member states are also now authorised to seize vessels in their territorial waters engaged in smuggling of oil or other commodities for the benefit of North Korea, mirroring existing obligations imposed by the European Union.

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