US President Barack Obama welcomed the "strong" resolution adopted today by the Security Council of the UN with new sanctions against North Korea and said it is "appropriate response" to recent nuclear tests and missile that country.
"Today the international community, speaking with one voice, sent a simple message to Pyongyang: North Korea must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better way for his people," Obama said in a statement.
The fifteen members of the Council unanimously adopted a resolution negotiated for weeks between the US and China, which will mean a sharp increase in international pressure on the North Korean regime.
That resolution imposed "strong new sanctions aimed at halting Pyongyang's efforts to advance its programs of weapons of mass destruction," Obama explained in the statement released by the White House.
In fact, the new sanctions include significant restrictions on trade with North Korea and force worldwide to inspect cargo to and from the country, in an attempt to ensure compliance with the restrictions.
This is the most severe punishments imposed by the UN in 20 years, said today the US ambassador to the organization, Samantha Power.
North Korea conducted on January 6 and its fourth nuclear test on February 7 sent a satellite into space, something that the international community considers an illegal disguised test of long-range missiles.
According to Obama, these "recent provocations," North Korea "flagrantly violated numerous resolutions of the Security Council" of the UN.