On May 4, the House of Representatives overwhelming passed legislation to place sanctions on North Korea’s shipping and labor trafficking sectors. The 419 to 1 vote came amid rising concerns about that country’s progress toward developing a long-range nuclear missile that could reach the United States.

The bill — H.R. 1644, the Korean Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ed Royce (CA-R) — now goes to the Senate, where it may be amended but is expected to pass easily. In remarks on the House floor, Representative Royce stated:

“North Korea has worked over the past year to evade international sanctions with the help of a vast network of front companies and governments that span the globe. Those who do business with North Korea provide it with money to fund the regime’s nuclear program and its grotesque human rights abuses — and they must be stopped.”

The bill requires the blacklisting of any foreign nationals who purchase certain materials and metals from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital. It also orders the sanctioning of anyone who helps facilitate shipping for vessels identified by the U.N. Security Council as being engaged in prohibited trade with North Korea. Foreign firms that hire North Korean labor could also come under U.S. sanctions, along with those who import North Korean agricultural goods.

In addition, the legislation would end all transactions with North Korean bank accounts created to gain indirect access to the U.S. nancial system, and some countries could be denied U.S. foreign assistance if they continued to engaged in prohibited arms trade with North Korea.

Finally, the measure would require the Trump Administration to report to Congress within 90 days on whether North Korea should be reinstated onto the government’s state sponsors of terror list.

For more background, see the March 2003 issue of International Debates on “North Korea’s Nuclear Program.”