(3rd LD) China submits implementation plan on sanctions against N. Korea

(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 6-9)

SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- China has submitted an action plan on how to implement its sanctions against North Korea in tandem with the ongoing global efforts to punish Pyongyang for conducting its nuclear and missile tests earlier this year, a government source said Tuesday.

"We have learned that China has turned in its implementation report" to the U.N. sanction committee for North Korea, the source told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity.

In March, the U.N. Security Council asked the 193 member countries to draw up their own plans on how to enforce the sanctions on the North under its latest resolution adopted in the wake of Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test and a long-range missile launch in January and February.

They were required to submit the plans within 90 days of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopting the resolution. That fell on June 2 (local time), though it is not a mandatory deadline.

Though it passed the deadline, the submission was much faster than in 2013 when it took Beijing about seven months to send in its implementation report in connection with a UNSC resolution.

When and what kind of report China would submit has drawn keen attention as it is expected to give a chance to see how faithful Beijing can be in carrying out its sanctions on North Korea, one of its closest allies.

The source said that the report was submitted on June 20.

The government was under fire for apparently not knowing exactly when China made the report. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told lawmakers on Friday that Beijing has yet to compile its action plan to the U.N.

"We didn't know any information about China's implementation report Friday when the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee was held," Cho June-hyuck, spokesperson of the ministry, told a regular briefing. He, however, did not confirm whether it has actually been filed.

What is contained in the latest report has yet to be disclosed. It is unclear whether the report will be disclosed since it cannot be made public if the submitting country does not want to reveal its contents.

China has shown its commitment to working with global efforts to put pressure on the North.

In mid-June, China's commerce ministry announced a decision to add about 40 items to the list of items banned for export to the communist neighbor. The ministry said the decision was part of efforts to implement the latest U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution.

With Beijing submitting its implementation report, four of the five veto-wielding permanent member countries of the UNSC -- the U.S., Russia and Britain -- have turned in their action plans. It has yet to be confirmed if France forwarded its plan.

Sources said that a total of 35 countries have turned in their implementation reports, including South Korea. Earlier this month, the Seoul government compiled its report in which it vowed to "continue to contribute to international efforts to strengthen the global nonproliferation regime."

Meanwhile, the permanent missions to the U.N. of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan plan to hold an international conference this week to provide a chance to share views on the latest resolution slapped on the North, according to a diplomatic source.

During the conference to be held on Thursday at U.N. headquarters in New York, participants mostly from other permanent missions to the U.N. along with experts in the academia and business sectors are expected to discuss the effects, challenges and cooperative issues in carrying out Resolution 2270.

The conference is apparently aimed at reminding member countries of the importance of implementing the resolution in reining in the North's nuclear and missile provocations, the source said.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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