The European Union has agreed to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

The foreign ministers of the EU’s 27 member countries met in Brussels on Monday and agreed to extensive additional sanctions on Pyongyang.

The sanctions include powerful measures involving financial and trade sanctions, asset freezes, and travel bans.

The 27 ministers also banned the export of components that could be used for the North’s nuclear and missile programs, and prohibited trade in precious metals with North Korea.

The EU had already maintained its own sanctions on the North, including an export ban on weapons and nuclear technology.

The additional set of measures calls for the implementation of UN-approved sanctions, as well as sanctions separately imposed by the EU.

Following Pyongyang's long-range rocket launch, the UN Security Council added more North Korean agencies, trade firms, and individuals to its sanctions list.

After their Monday meeting, the EU foreign ministers urged North Korea to rejoin the international community in a constructive manner, and pursue continued peace and security on the Korean Peninsula based on denuclearization.

They stressed this is the best way for the North to guarantee a prosperous and stable future.

Despite international warnings and dissuasion, North Korea carried out its third nuclear test on February 12th. A chain of condemnations from around the world quickly followed.

The European Commission immediately issued a statement denouncing the North. It said the nuclear test was a blatant challenge to the worldwide nonproliferation regime, and a clear violation of international treaties banning the North's experiments or nuclear weapons production.

The EU is particularly sensitive to issues concerning the environment and nuclear weapons. North Korea's rocket launch and nuclear development may well be aimed at the United States. There's no reason the EU would react more swiftly than the U.S., but Europe is aggressive when it comes to nuclear sanctions.

The EU appears far more resistant to nuclear proliferation than to missiles.

Sanctions by individual countries are progressing at a faster speed than developments in UN sanctions. Many other nations, including the U.S. and Japan, are also moving to strengthen or expand sanctions on Pyongyang.

This is because UN sanctions are being delayed over China's lukewarm attitude. In similar situations in the past, China always sided with North Korea, thereby delaying and diluting the adoption of UN sanctions resolutions led by South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and the EU.

This time, China is expected to water down UN sanctions on North Korea again.