New UN Sanctions Might Not Dissuade North Korea's Nuclear Program

The new round of strict sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations is meant to deal a serious blow to the country's economy. 

The sanctions could cut North Korea's oil imports by 90 percent. Also, North Korea makes money by sending its people to work in other countries and then pocketing most of their wages. These sanctions will stop that by requiring those workers return to North Korea in 24 months.

It's the latest round of sanctions meant to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. In November, the country tested a ballistic missile, which it says can hit the whole U.S. mainland.

Japan Approves Biggest Defense Budget Yet Amid North Korea Threat

Japan Approves Biggest Defense Budget Yet Amid North Korea Threat

The draft budget for fiscal 2018 came in at a whopping 5.19 trillion yen — up 1.3 percent from the previous year.

LEARN MORE

So far, recent sanctions pressure hasn't done much to dissuade North Korea from launching missiles. The U.N. passed several measures targeting North Korea's economy, only for the country to launch more missiles.

And there's not much economic pressure left to leverage on North Korea. The White House recently said it has "used just about every lever you can use, short of starving the people of North Korea to death" to change North Korea's behavior.