[Continuing a sanctions regime that is, by design, based on
collective punishment violates international norms. The U.S. must
return to politics of engagement and diplomacy, which offer the only
consistent path to rapprochement, stability and peace.]
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BIDEN IS REVIEWING US POLICY IN NORTH KOREA: THE BRUTAL SANCTIONS
MUST END.  
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Simone Chun
April 26, 2021
Truthout
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_ Continuing a sanctions regime that is, by design, based on
collective punishment violates international norms. The U.S. must
return to politics of engagement and diplomacy, which offer the only
consistent path to rapprochement, stability and peace. _

,

 

Since 2018, hundreds of new sanctions targeting the civilian economy
have been imposed on the people of North Korea. In 2018 alone, new and
existing sanctions caused almost 4,000
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preventable civilian deaths
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Around 11 million North Koreans are deprived of sufficient access to
basic foodstuffs, clean drinking water or essential medical services.

Subjected to ever-increasing sanctions, North Korea is projected to
suffer a food deficit of 1.3. million tons
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the already dire condition endured by a broad swath of the population.
More than 40 percent of North Korea’s 25 million people are
considered chronically food insecure, and one out of every five
children under the age of 5 is impacted by stunted growth. The latest
UN Human Rights Council
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highlights “deaths by starvation” as well as “an increase in the
number of children and elderly people who have resorted to begging.”

Few people around the world know about the extent of this human
suffering. Reports of the ongoing humanitarian tragedy have not been
given the attention they deserve because of the saturation of negative
media coverage of North Korea, which is dominated by reports on the
country’s nuclear program. The human side of the conflict is given
short shrift, with little attention devoted to either the
effectiveness or the human cost of economic sanctions.

While it goes without saying that the North Korean government bears
the primary responsibility for the welfare of its people, it is
important to note the extraordinary nature of U.S.-drafted UN
sanctions — as well as unilateral U.S. sanctions — which by design
inflict catastrophic impact on people in North Korea.

Take, for instance, the vast expansion of existing UN sanctions
targeting North Korea’s civilian economy, which were initiated by
President Obama and subsequently escalated by the Trump
administration. These U.S.-authored restrictions were touted by the
[[link removed]]Trump
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administration
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as “the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country,” and include
restrictions on oil and petroleum product imports, devastating the
civilian and household economy and triggering an energy shortage that
has reduced the reach of the country’s already spotty supply of
electricity to less than a quarter of households. This past winter,
millions of ordinary North Koreans endured extreme winter temperatures
as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit without reliable heating or
electricity.

The new sanctions also prohibit the import of foodstuffs and critical
agricultural components, openly violating the 1977 Additional Protocol
of the Geneva Convention
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which specifically forbids any action that erodes agricultural
production, “whatever the motive.” Unsurprisingly, precipitous
drops in agricultural production have occurred as a result. Food has
become increasingly scarce, causing more than 1 million additional
North Korean civilians
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to slip into food insecurity as a result of the restrictions on food
and agricultural imports. The increasing scarcity of even basic food
items disproportionately impacts the poor, the sick and elderly, as
well as newborns.

Even the laptops and administrative supplies used by humanitarian
workers in North Korea are subject to sanctions.

In addition to strangling the flow of critical civilian imports, these
sanctions also ban 90 percent of North Korea’s exports, including
minerals, seafood and textiles, impacting hundreds of thousands of
ordinary North Koreans employed in these industries — particularly
women
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who make up the bulk of the workforce in these sectors.

The dire situation created by these U.S.-drafted UN sanctions are
exacerbated by the unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington, which
allow the U.S. Treasury to block anyone doing business with North
Korea from accessing the U.S. financial system. This has caused a
shortage of much-needed foreign currency, and further contributed to
food insecurity by reducing incomes while raising the cost of food.

Unilateral U.S. sanctions have also incapacitated the NGOs and UN
agencies running the humanitarian programs that provide life-saving
aid to more than 13 million vulnerable North Koreans. They delay
exemptions and block imports of critical medical supplies, such as
catheters and needles, increasing easily preventable hospital-related
deaths, such as mothers dying
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as a result of childbirth. According to the Enhancing North Korea
Humanitarian Assistance Act
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even the laptops and administrative supplies used by humanitarian
workers in North Korea are subject to sanctions, which have created an
insurmountable barrier of red tape
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for humanitarian organizations.

Continuing a sanctions regime that is, by design, based on collective
punishment violates international norms.

While the UN Human Rights Council has repeatedly recommended the
removal of “sanctions that negatively affect people’s human
rights” in North Korea, any attempt to lift or even reduce the
impact of sanctions has consistently been met with steadfast
opposition in Washington. In recent years, the weaponization of
sanctions, hunger and human suffering has come to be regarded as a
means to force denuclearization on North Korea, signaling the final
devolution of state policy into extortion. Take, for instance, John
Bolton’s warning
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to the Biden administration against lifting sanctions:

North Korea is weaker today
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than perhaps ever before in its history…. This is hardly the time to
relieve the pressure of economic sanctions and international
isolation. This is the time to demand concessions from Pyongyang.

Does the United States have the right to implement a policy of
inflicting deliberate harm on the weak and vulnerable based on the
cold calculus that doing so will increase its foreign policy leverage?
Should the fate of children, the sick and the elderly be used as
bargaining chips to induce concessions from their government? Any
policy designed to reduce access to basic foodstuffs, life-saving
medical supplies and humanitarian aid appears to be consciously
targeted to this end.

The Geneva Convention labels such actions as crimes against humanity
during wartime — a significant nuance since the 70-year-old Korean
War is technically ongoing. Continuing a sanctions regime that is, by
design, based on collective punishment
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violates international norms.

The Biden administration needs to realize that weaponized misery and
collective punishment is neither ethically acceptable nor an effective
tool of statecraft.

U.S. policies that aim to undermine regime security in North Korea by
imposing costs on its powerless population are wrongheaded in the
extreme. Even as these brutal sanctions have caused widespread and
significant human suffering, they have failed to achieve any progress
whatsoever with respect to U.S. foreign policy goals.

As the Biden administration completes its North Korea policy review in
the coming weeks, it needs to realize that weaponized misery and
collective punishment is neither ethically acceptable nor an effective
tool of statecraft — it’s a form of collective punishment that
should never be considered. Before the current humanitarian crisis
spirals further out of control, the U.S. must return to the politics
of engagement and diplomacy, which offer the only consistent path to
rapprochement, stability and peace in the Korean Peninsula.

 
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
Reprinted with permission.

_Simone Chun has taught at Northeastern University in Boston,
Massachusetts, and served as an associate in research at Harvard
University’s Korea Institute. She is an active member of the Korea
Peace Network and a member of the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about
Korea’s steering committee. She participated in an international
women’s delegation of peace to Korea organized by Women Cross DMZ
[[link removed]] and Nobel
Women’s Initiative [[link removed]]._

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