The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with South Korea and Japan, have submitted a new draft resolution on North Korea to the full 15-member Security Council for approval.
The draft, submitted early Thursday, would strengthen financial and trade sanctions on the communist state for its recent provocative actions, which include a nuclear test and missile launches.
It would also mandate that the North refrain from any further nuclear tests, suspend its long-range missile program, and return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The draft, comprising 34 clauses, would allow states to inspect sea, air or land cargo coming in and out of the North that is in any way related to weapons of mass destruction.
The draft also seeks to prevent the flow of international funds that could contribute to the North’s missile, nuclear or proliferation activities.
The U.N. embargo on the export of arms would be expanded to cover nearly all the North’s military arsenal and any related training or equipment. The draft, however, omits light weapons and small arms from the embargo.
The draft resolution, which is mainly a strengthened form of a previous resolution on the North, is expected to be adopted on Thursday evening when the council convenes a full session.