For new sanctions to work, US must play positive role

In what for diplomats in Beijing is a major achievement, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution which many believe would at once lower the likelihood of war, and convey a warning to Pyongyang.

Resolution 2397, the 10th UN Security Council has passed imposing sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is in the first place a sign of international solidarity against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile program. That, despite their differences, member countries have agreed to up the ante by imposing tougher sanctions reflects they still believe a peaceful, political, diplomatic solution to the Korean Peninsula problem is possible.

Given the resolution's meticulous detail, avoiding to inflict humanitarian losses and impair normal economic activities, the latest sanctions would prove a low-cost approach if they succeed in prompting Pyongyang back to the negotiation table. But for that to happen, the sanctions have to be enforced by all stakeholders in good faith, as Pyongyang appears determined and perhaps desperate to become a strong nuclear power.