UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and Pyongyang’s only major ally China since President Donald Trump took office. But she added: “Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary.”

Adding names to the U.N. blacklist - a global travel ban and asset freeze - was the minimum sanctions measures the Security Council could have taken and comes after five weeks of negotiations between Washington and Beijing. In a tough speech after the vote, United States ambassador Nikki Haley said, "the Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences". Blacklisted entities include two trading firms, the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People’s Army, and the Koryo Bank, which is tied to an organization that manages the private finances of North Korean officials, including the nation’s president, Kim Jong Un. North Korea’s Koryo Bank handles overseas transactions for Office 38, a shadowy body that manages the private slush funds of the North Korean leadership, according to a South Korean government database. ‘CRITICAL WINDOW’ – The measures adopted on Friday could have been agreed by the council’s North Korea sanctions committee behind closed doors, but Washington convinced China to back a public vote on the blacklist, amplifying the council’s unhappiness with Pyongyang’s defiance of a U.N. ban on ballistic missile launches. It expresses "serious concern" that North Korea continues to violate United Nations resolutions with repeated launches and attempted launches of ballistic missiles, stressing that these tests contribute to development of its nuclear weapons delivery systems. Liu said China was calling on all parties to implement the resolution and "strive for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue" by strengthening efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and promote peace and dialogue. REUTERS/Mike Segar

“It is incumbent on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and to do more to help ease the tension and build mutual trust.”

He again proposed a simultaneous freeze of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and South Korea and the United States’ joint military exercises. Russia said the suggestion merits “serious consideration.”

Haley said: “We want a negotiated solution, but North Korea must fulfill its basic obligations by first stopping all ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons testing and taking concrete steps towards getting rid of its nuclear weapons program.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the Security Council on April 28 that it needed to act before North Korea does.
As a result of North Korea's repeated missile tests, the United Nations Security Council expands its targeted sanctions against the country, adding to the U.N. blacklist four entities, including the Koryo Bank and the Army's Strategic Rocket Force, and 14 people, including the North's head of intelligence operations.