July 19, 2017
Elizabeth Rosenberg before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade
Restricting North Korea's Access to Finance
Chairman Barr, Ranking Member Moore, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on restricting North Korea’s access to financial services.
The United States has in place an array of sanctions and other restrictive financial measures on North Korea to expose and constrain its increasingly dangerous missile and nuclear proliferation activities. Since 2006, North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests including, most recently, two in January and September 2016. The country has also conducted a series of ballistic missile tests, including over 80 since Kim Jong Un’s rise to power in 2011. In response to this growing threat, since 2006 U.S. leaders have worked with international counterparts to bring into force an array of United Nations Security Council resolutions with sanctions on North Korea, responding to provocative and dangerous nuclear and missile tests by the rogue state, including three resolutions since 2016. U.S. leaders have also urged many like-minded nations to amplify the multilateral effort by imposing their own restrictive financial measures.
These various sanctions programs have focused primarily on North Korea’s proliferation activities and networks, both those in support of Pyongyang’s weapons capability and its activities to supply other countries with components and technology. In the more recent past, international sanctions have expanded to include broader restrictions on North Korea’s economy and trade to deny the country the ability to earn hard currency to support its dangerous proliferation activities. Policy leaders have also expanded their sanctions authorities to target North Korea’s human rights abuses and malicious cyber activity.
Watch Rosenberg's testimony on House Financial Service Committee's YouTube page.
The full testimony is available online.
More from CNAS
-
Richard Nephew on the U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program
Podcast
Richard Nephew, expert on sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program, joins Emily and Geoff to discuss the long history of U.S. policy towards Iran, the role of sanctions in constra...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
Commentary
Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
Beyond Bans: Expanding the Policy Options for Tech-Security ThreatsStuck between a rock (the fact that banning all Chinese tech that poses a risk is expensive and impractical) and a hard place (the fact that many existing mitigation proposals...
By Geoffrey Gertz
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
75 Years Post-Korean War: Can Trust Be Rebuilt Under the New Administration?As President Lee Jae Myung begins his term, he's taking visible steps to reset the tone with North Korea: halting propaganda broadcasts and reemphasizing past military agreeme...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
-
Podcast
Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Will Iran block the Strait of Hormuz?The world has held a close eye on the Strait of Hormuz lately with Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran. Nearly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil passes through the narrow wat...
By Rachel Ziemba
