June 12 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously today to punish North Korea for its recent nuclear-bomb test and missile launches through cargo inspections and enforcement of new restrictions on financial transactions.

The Security Council voted 15 to 0 to adopt a U.S.-backed resolution that would seek to curb loans and money transfers to North Korea and step up inspection of cargoes suspected of containing material that might contribute to the development of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles.

The vote followed almost three weeks of negotiations on tighter sanctions that began when North Korea detonated a suspected nuclear device on May 25, voided the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War and tested several missiles. Accord on the text by China and Russia, which have resisted sanctions on North Korea, led to the Security Council consensus.

“The additional measures are substantive and targeted in nature and clearly tied to ending the DPRK program to create nuclear missiles,” Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said after the vote. “The attempt by the DPRK to create nuclear missiles not only doesn’t strengthen security but on the contrary ratchets up tension on the Korean peninsula.”

Churkin said his country was “satisfied” by the unanimous adoption of the resolution against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. He said the Russians made sure that the provisions for checking ships on the high seas would not set a precedent, and that he hoped the resolution would steer North Korea back to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Cargo Inspection

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said at a White House briefing that, while the sanctions have “teeth that will bite,” they don’t authorize the use of military force.

The measure calls for the interdiction at seaports, airports or in international waters of any cargo suspected of containing nuclear or missile-related materials going to or from North Korea. It would prohibit the refueling or servicing of such vessels at sea, and would require any ship to proceed to a convenient port for inspection in the event consent for boarding is refused.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui pointed to the dangers of cargo interception, saying that “under no circumstance should there be the use of force or the threat of use of force” in implementing the sanctions. He said inspecting vessels carrying North Korean cargo is “complicated” and “sensitive.”

Resolution’s Bite

“It is significant that China and Russia are willing to increase the language on interdiction and financial sanctions, but the resolution will not have that much bite if there is no implementation,” Nicholas Szechenyi of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

Szechenyi said that while enforcement by China is critical to the resolution’s effectiveness, the government in Beijing likely will be reluctant to further provoke North Korea in the midst of a tenuous political situation involving the possible succession to dictator Kim Jong Il.

“Though North Korea’s recent behavior has angered the Chinese, causing them to lose face, you might suspect they would opt against enforcing the strongest measures,” Szechenyi said. “I would not expect them to take the lead and, without that, this is something that North Korea could well ignore.”

Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, the American special envoy on North Korea, said yesterday that China is “very concerned, acutely concerned, about what North Korea is doing,” and that the U.S. is satisfied the China is working to rein in North Korea’s behavior.

Funding Cut Off

The measure “cuts off a significant source of funding for the North Korean nuclear and missile programs,” said Philip Parham, U.K. deputy envoy to the UN. “This is not directed against trade and should have no effect on the already hard- pressed people of North Korea,” Parham told journalists before the vote.

The UN’s previously adopted embargo on tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons would be expanded to all arms, and member nations would be urged “not to enter into new commitments for grants, financial assistance, or concessional loans,” or to “provide public financial support for trade” with North Korea.

If North Korea reacts to the strengthened sanctions by testing a third nuclear device or launching another long-range missile, “we’d take it badly,” Parham said. The unanimous adoption of the resolution “shows the international community is united in condemning North Korea’s proliferation activities.”

Nonproliferation Treaty

The resolution “condemns” the May 25 detonation, and demands that North Korea halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The government in Pyongyang also should remain a part to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and rejoin talks with China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

The resolution asks UN members to report within 45 days on steps they are taking to implement the sanctions and for Ban to name a group of experts to monitor their enforcement.

The Security Council’s committee on North Korean sanctions would be instructed to agree within 30 days on further entities, material and individuals to be subject to the travel ban and asset freeze imposed after the 2006 nuclear test. Only two North Korean companies and a bank have been so designated; no individuals have been subjected to the sanctions.

Bosworth said yesterday the U.S. is considering targeting North Korean financial deposits held in other countries as part of the effort to compel the regime to change its behavior.

A U.S. effort under President George W. Bush to punish a Macau bank suspected of laundering money for North Korea created a ripple effect with financial institutions around the world and hurt the regime’s ability to move its money, Victor Cha, a former adviser to Bush on Asian affairs, yesterday told the Senate panel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.netejohnson28@bloomberg.net; Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 12, 2009 14:02 EDT