North Korea warned the United
States that it would feel the "greatest pain" if it pushed ahead with a
new round of sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear program as the
United Nations Security Council was expected to vote on a new resolution
Monday.
"The DPRK (the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea) is ready and willing to use any form of
ultimate means" and the U.S. would pay a heavy price if new
sanctions proposed by Washington are adopted, North Korea's foreign
ministry said, referring to the nation by its official name.
Exactly
what measures would be in the resolution remained unknown, but an
early draft circulated by the U.S. called for imposing the toughest-ever
U.N. sanctions on North Korea, including a ban on all oil and natural
gas exports and a freeze of all foreign financial assets of the
government and its leader, Kim Jong Un.
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| The U.S. reportedly wants to cut off oil and natural gas exports to North Korea, but China and Russia could veto that plan. Video provided by Newsy Newslook |
A revised draft seen by the Reuters news agency does
not include an oil embargo. Russia and China favor a political solution
and have expressed the view that additional sanctions would have a
limited impact. Both could veto any new resolution.
The
draft resolution calls for a ban on North Korea's textile exports, its
largest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, according to
Reuters.
To pass, a resolution needs nine of the
15 Security Council members to endorse it. Additionally, none of the
council's five permanent members — the United States, Britain, France,
Russia and China — must veto it.