The UN Security Council condemned the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on January 6, 2016 and unanimously adopted resolution 2270 (2016).

The 15-member Council also condemned North Korea’s launch of February 7, 2016, using ballistic missile technology, and demanded that it comply immediately with its international obligations.

The resolution provides that all states inspect cargo within or transiting through their territory—including airports, sea ports and free trade zones—that was destined for or originating from North Korea.  It also provides that member states prohibit that country’s nationals and those in their own territories from leasing or chartering their flagged vessels and aircraft to it, or providing it with crew services.  The prohibition should apply also to any designated individuals or entities assisting in the evasion of sanctions or violation of all related resolutions.

The council also decided that all UN members should prohibit their own nationals from registering vessels in North Korea and obtaining authorization for vessels to use their respective flag.  In addition, it decided that all states should deny permission for any aircraft to take off from, land at, or overfly their respective territories if such aircraft contained items for supply, sale, transfer, or export, except in cases of emergency landing.

The resolution also provides that Pyongyang should not supply, sell or transfer coal, iron, iron ore, gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore, and rare earth minerals, and that all states should prohibit their nationals from procuring such materials.  The council also decided that states should prevent the sale or supply of aviation fuel to North Korea.

The council decided that member states should expel Pyongyang’s diplomats, governmental representatives, or nationals acting in a governmental capacity who assisted in the evasion of sanctions or the violation of related resolutions. It decided further that all member states should prevent specialized teaching or training of North Korean nationals within their territories, or by their nationals, in disciplines that could contribute to the proliferation of sensitive nuclear activities or the development of nuclear-weapon delivery systems.

Speaking after the adoption, the representative of the United States Samantha Power said the resolution went further than any other sanctions regime in two decades, emphasizing that multilateral pressure could be effective in bringing Pyongyang back to the table for serious and credible negotiations on denuclearization. Describing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as the only State that had conducted nuclear tests in the twenty-first century, routinely threatening other countries with nuclear annihilation, she noted that the chronic suffering of its people was the direct result of the choices made by their government.