After months of wrangling the UN security council is preparing to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea over its fifth and largest nuclear test yet. The sanctions would also ban North Korea’s exports of non-ferrous metals and sanction 11 government officials as well as 10 entities linked to the country’s nuclear weapons programme. North Korea boasted of game-changing nuclear technology when it conducted its fifth atomic test in defiance of both tough international sanctions and long-standing diplomatic pressure to curb its nuclear ambitions. North Korea’s persistent pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons has long been one of the most intractable foreign policy problems for US administrations. Six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programme in exchange for aid were last held in late 2008 and fell apart in early 2009.

Source: The Guardian November 29, 2016 01:15 UTC