Why Do North Korea Use Sanctions

CLAIM: The United States, currently, ineffectively utilizes sanctions as a measure to pressure the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). ESTABLISHING EVIDENCE: Despite North Korean inhabitants suffer because of sanctions, their government seems to prevail. One of the major reasons the state firmly persists their nuclear ambitions is China’s (PRC) support. While the entire world slashes North Korea from trade, the PRC remains one of the staunch opposers in sanctioning the DPRK. EVIDENCE: According to a Forbes article, contributed by Stratfor, the world’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, “China [has a] fundamental interest in keeping a stable and neutralized buffer at its doorstep,” and it identifies this buffer as North Korea, …show more content…
ESTABLISHING EVIDENCE: China’s dedication for North Korea establishes itself through the superpower’s investment in the region. EVIDENCE: As stated by the Dick Nanto and Mark Nanyin from the Congressional Research Service, “the PRC is North Korea’s closest ally, largest provider of food, fuel, and industrial machinery”. ANALYSIS: So given the PRC’s motivations of keeping the north as a buffer zone to the US-backed South Korea, China, for the foreseeable future, will not cave in to international demands to choke the DPRK by not supplying it. Therefore, as long as Kim Jong-Un’s northern neighbor supplies him, his government will be stable. ESTABLISHING EVIDENCE: Moreover, even without the PRC, the Un regime builds revenue through illegal means- not regulated through sanctions. EVIDENCE: As Bernt Berger, the founder of the Engagement Policy Centre, writes, “Pyongyang has positioned itself on the international market as a major supplier of low-tech military equipment for cheap prices.” ANALYSIS: Simply, because of the “weak control” encapsulating the DPRK, it has been able to take advantage to construct an illicit smuggling enterprise which funnels millions to Pyongyang