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The International Seminar on Sanctions against North Korea, focused on the impact of sanctions on the North Korean economy and denuclearization, was broadcast live on YouTube on Friday. It was jointly organized by the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association and by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-sun. (provided by the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association)

Panelists at an international symposium stressed the need to break the vicious cycle of long-term intensive sanctions against North Korea by the US and UN and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the North.

The symposium included a wide variety of suggested alternatives, ranging from calls for exemptions on all sanctions affecting humanitarian assistance activities in the North to recommending that the only realistic option available to Seoul is to take the first steps in creating space for the US government to show greater flexibility in adjusting its sanctions regime.

Participants also suggested the foundation for sanctions against North Korea could be undercut by changes in Beijing’s attitude amid its intensifying strategic rivalry with Washington.

Taking part in the International Seminar on Sanctions against North Korea, University of Sussex professor and sanctions expert Kevin Gray noted that the “primary goals” of the sanctions in North Korea were a “change in target state behavior,” adding that this approach had “failed” and was only inhibiting humanitarian assistance.

He also observed that the scope of sanctions was limited by the lack of internal division within the North Korean regime.

“Sanctions [affecting humanitarian areas] can also actually be counterproductive. They can reinforce [. . .] what’s known as a ‘rally around the flag’ effect,” he explained.

The seminar, which focused on the impact of sanctions on the North Korean economy and denuclearization, was broadcast live on YouTube on Dec. 10. It was jointly organized by the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association and by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-sun.

Ewha Womans University law professor Kim Jung-yeun, a former diplomat and current attorney specializing in international economy, said the US was “realistically the only country capable of spearheading a decision on whether to relax sanctions or to intensify them to achieve their denuclearization target.”

She went on to say, “The only solution available to the South Korean government would be to suggest arguments and create a space to provide the US with a justification and means for adjusting some of its approach to increase the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving denuclearization.”

Other participants noted that North Korean authorities have been focusing their attention on sanctions relief rather than international humanitarian assistance as sanctions and pandemic-related border closures persist into the long term.

Kwon Soon-yub, an attorney with the law firm Lee & Ko and an expert in international sanctions law, stressed, “The main obstacle to increased humanitarian assistance to North Korea is Pyongyang’s attitude that sanctions relief represents a more effective means of fundamentally resolving its economic crisis and food shortage.”

He also said that North Korea “essentially does not regard isolated, one-off instances of humanitarian assistance as important.”

Kee B. Park, a professor at Harvard Medical School and North Korea bureau director for the Korean American Medical Association, noted that North Korea has not been aggressive about seeking humanitarian aid even as sanctions have negatively impacted its humanitarian situation. He went on to predict that it would be difficult to prevent North Korea’s humanitarian crisis from worsening without sanctions relief.

Choi Jang-ho, director of the unification and international cooperation team at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, predicted, “The intensifying strategic rivalry between the US and China could lead to changes in the attitude of Beijing, which has been practically responsible for a large part of North Korea sanctions.”

“With North Korea’s economic activity taking place within the Chinese financial network and trade management system, a change in Beijing’s attitude could undercut the very foundation of sanctions,” he said.

“The emergence of digital currency and other alternative payment systems has prevented the US from fully monitoring North Korean financial transactions,” he added. In his view, the fact that sanctions are unable to operate effectively means that they will need to be adjusted.

Lee Ju-sung, secretary general of the Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (KNCCK), concluded that sanctions had undercut the momentum behind activities by groups involved in humanitarian cooperation in the North, resulting in the suspension of sustainable development cooperation projects and weakening trust with North Korean partners.

He went on to stress the need for “blanket exemptions” of sanctions on humanitarian assistance activities, as well as the “establishment of remittance channels.”

By Lee Jae-hoon, senior staff writer

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