美国国会众议院星期二预计将对一项制裁措施案进行投票表决。制裁案规定要确保朝鲜得不到用于核武器项目的硬通货。
众议院外交委员会主席、共和党众议员罗伊斯提出了制裁案,以回应朝鲜上个星期宣布进行的第四次核试验。朝鲜称,这次试验引爆了一个有巨大摧毁力的热核材料装置。外界普遍对朝鲜自称氢弹爆炸成功的说法表示怀疑。
罗伊斯说,不能接受朝鲜核武器研发构成的威胁,国会必须采取主动行动。
朝鲜制裁执行法案将授权有关部门没收与朝鲜核扩散、非法活动和践踏人权活动有关的资产,阻止朝鲜领导人通过美国的金融系统获得资金,并要求美国总统制裁那些协助对美国发动网络攻击的人。
朝鲜1月6日的核试验被探测到之后几小时,联合国安理会也举行了紧急会议。安理会目前也在考虑对朝鲜实行新制裁,因为朝鲜“公然违反”了先前的联合国决议。
安理会上次批准制裁朝鲜,是朝鲜2013年2月12日进行第三次核试验的三个星期之后。
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a sanctions measure that would block North Korea’s access to the hard currency it needs for its nuclear weapons program.
Republican House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce sponsored the sanctions bill, which is seen as a response to North Korea’s announcement last week that it had conducted a fourth nuclear test — this one detonating a thermonuclear device with massive destructive power. That claim has been met with widespread skepticism.
Royce said the threat from North Korea’s nuclear advances is unacceptable, and that Congress should take the lead.
The North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act would authorize the seizing of any assets connected with North Korea’s proliferation, illicit activities and human rights violations. It would deny North Korean leaders access to the U.S. financial system, and it presses the president to sanction individuals who facilitate cyberattacks against the United States.
The U.N. Security Council, which met in an emergency session hours after the January 6 nuclear test was detected, is also considering new sanctions against North Korea for its “clear violation” of previous U.N. resolutions.
The council last approved sanctions against North Korea three weeks after Pyongyang’s third nuclear test on February 12, 2013.