N Korea N-test: Major powers in a dilemma

Washington : US presidential candidates and members of the US Congress demanded more sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday after its latest nuclear test, but major powers will likely be reluctant to take the tough steps necessary to force Pyongyang to abandon its weapons program.

North Korea is already under a wide array of international sanctions, and diplomats said UN Security Council members were expected to discuss the possibility of adding to these in coming days. But steps taken so far stop short of the all-out economic offensive that forced Iran to the nuclear negotiating table.

Asia analysts said China would likely support more UN sanctions, even though it is North Korea's neighbour and main ally, but within limits, for fear of destabilising what has long been a physical buffer between it and US-backed South Korea.

Washington, too, has been cautious. While US sanctions have aggressively targeted Pyongyang's military and weapons programme, the US has not imposed crippling economic sanctions, in part because these would hit Chinese firms and banks that do the vast bulk of business with North Korea.

“We are deeply interlinked and if you hold an economic gun to China’s head, you are holding it to your own head,” said Joseph DeThomas, a former US diplomat who worked on sanctions on North Korea and Iran, referring to the close economic relations between the world's two largest economies.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump urged China to rein in its ally or face trade repercussions, while his main Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, said the United States should tighten sanctions on North Korea and called on Beijing to be more assertive in deterring Pyongyang's "irresponsible actions."

An adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo had begun discussing a new UN sanctions resolution with Washington. Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters one option for Japan itself could be to reimpose bilateral sanctions it eased in 2014 in return for North Korea's reopening of a probe into the status of abducted Japanese citizens.

Any discussions on sanctions at the United Nations may go nowhere close to the steps necessary to effect change in North Korea. Unlike in the case of Iran, the United States has not sought to strangle regular trade between North Korea and the international community with threats to blacklist any company that does business in the country.

Washington used so-called “secondary sanctions” on Tehran that threatened to expel from the financial system any company, anywhere in the world, that bought oil from Iran. Secondary sanctions against Pyongyang have so far remained off the table.

Adam Smith, a former senior adviser at the US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions, said even the toughest steps might not change North Korea's behaviour, given its small, isolated economy.