The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation which would prohibit any exchanges with communist North Korea in goods and technology related to missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
The legislation, called the North Korea Nonproliferation Act 2006, comes as the first tangible measure against the North after the U.N. Security Council on July 15 approved a resolution condemning Pyongyang's launch of seven ballistic missiles and prohibiting missile-related dealings with the communist state.
The bill, if signed by U.S. President George W. Bush into law, would allow the U.S. government to impose "sanctions on any foreign person believed to have transferred to North Korea goods, services or technologies that could contribute to the ability to produce missiles, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction," Sen. Bill Frist, the author of the bill, said after introducing the bill on July 14.
The Republican from Tennessee also said shortly after the bill was passed that the U.S. "must do everything within our power to prevent" North Korea from obtaining additional materials to advance its weapons and missile program.
Despite repeated warnings from South Korea and its allies, including the United States and Japan, Pyongyang launched seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast, on July 5.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the nonproliferation act will be enacted as Washington has been trying to convince Pyongyang to return to international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.
The North has been staying away from the multilateral negotiations since November, citing what it claims to be a hostile U.S. policy to topple its regime.
Pyongyang also claims it was forced to develop nuclear deterrence against what it claims to be U.S. hostility, holding the U.S. responsible, at least partly, for driving the country into economic despair through years of sanctions and other punitive measures.
The nuclear negotiations involve the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the two Koreas.
The latest dispute over North Korea's nuclear ambitions erupted in late 2002 when Washington accused Pyongyang of running a clandestine nuclear arms program in violation of their 1994 agreement, which put an end to the first North Korean nuclear crisis.
Washington, July 25 (Yonhap News)
U.S. Senate approves bill on sanctions against North Korea |
