Baku, June 3, AZERTAC

The United Nations Security Council voted Friday to broaden sanctions on North Korea in a unanimous decision from the council’s 15 member nations. The new sanctions will apply a travel ban and asset freeze to 14 people and four North Korean entities. Among the blacklisted officials is the head of North Korea’s overseas spying operations, senior members of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, and heads of trading firms that have funded North Korea’s military program. Blacklisted entities include two trading firms, the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People’s Army, and the Koryo Bank, which is tied to an organization that manages the private finances of North Korean officials, including the nation’s president, Kim Jong Un.

According to the Atlantic, the process of determining Friday’s sanctions involved lengthy discussions between the U.S. and China, North Korea’s only major ally. While the U.S. expressed confidence earlier this month that it could convince China to impose new sanctions, Friday marks their first joint resolution related to North Korea since President Trump assumed office. Friday’s sanctions represent the minimum penalty that could have been imposed by the UN. This is likely because China is unwilling to consider harsher sanctions against North Korea—such as an oil embargo or ban on North Korea’s airline, Air Koryo—unless North Korea attempts to launch a long-range missile or conducts another nuclear test.