Sanctions alone cannot rein in DPRK

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

To implement Resolution 2270 passed by the UN Security Council on March 2 against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has published a list of goods that cannot be imported from or exported to the DPRK.

The list, however, has sparked a debate, especially because it makes exceptions for goods the DPRK people need as basic necessities and those that are for humanitarian aid.

China believes sanctions on the DRPK are aimed at preventing Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons and bringing it back to the negotiations table. But China is opposed to the use of sanctions while excluding dialogue, or "full sanctions" that will harm the interests of ordinary people in the DPRK and could lead to a humanitarian crisis.

The denuclearizing of the Korean Peninsula is linked to the easing the DPRK's normal concerns, its security concerns in particular. It is thus unrealistic for the United States and the Republic of Korea to propose that the DPRK abandon its nuclear program before talks can be held on other issues. The US and ROK have been pushing for full sanctions on the DPRK in the hope that Beijing would pressure Pyongyang into accepting all the conditions to hold a multilateral dialogue. Their aim, in other words, is to push Pyongyang toward collapse.

China opposes such moves, because it knows they will lead to a humanitarian crisis in the DPRK and could endanger the interests of other countries. In this sense, the publication of the list of embargoed goods is a pragmatic move by China to protect not only the interests of ordinary people in the DPRK but also the security of all the countries in Northeast Asia.

Some Western media outlets have deliberately misinterpreted China's list or focused on Pyongyang's dissatisfaction with Beijing in a bid to sour China-DPRK ties. The fact is, the essence of Beijing-Pyongyang ties has not changed. There are no essential disputes between Beijing and Pyongyang except for their difference on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue.