남북경협 재개를 위한 국제사회의 대북제재 법적 검토 - 개성공단 재개가능성을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The global sanctions against North Korea have dramatically strengthened since 2016. The United Nations Security Council adopted six new resolutions which substantially broadened the scope and areas of prohibited and regulated activities. For example, the Member States decided to prohibit almost all economic transactions with North Korea and required North Korean workers in their countries to return to North Korea. At the same time, the United States developed its own sanctions regime against North Korea under “The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (H.R. 3364). The Act, together with other statutes and executive orders, aimed at completely blocking any transactions with North Korea with both the primary and secondary sanctions, allowing even third-country individuals and companies to be subject to the US sanctions against North Korea. A series of new sanctions development against North Korea cast doubt as to re-operation of the Kaesong Industrial Region. Although the Kaesong Industrial Region has been known as one of the most successful inter-Korean economic cooperation, it completely ceased to operate in 2016 as the South and North Korea relations deteriorated. However, the political dynamics are changing after the South-North Summit on 27 April 2018, and expectations are growing again that the Region may resume its operation in near future. However, as the existing sanctions will remain for a period of time, this paper attempts to assess the feasibility of re-operation of the Region under the current sanctions regime. This paper finds that the texts of the UN Resolutions and US laws provide the ways to minimize the impact of sanctions relating to the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Region. Under the relevant UN Resolutions, countries may apply for case-by-case exemptions on the grounds, including “maintaining peace and security in the Korean Peninsula.” Similarly, the US sanctions regime provides substantial discretion to the President in enforcing the sanctions. The paper provides the overview of the UN and US sanctions, identifies potential activities at the Kaesong Industrial Region that may be prevented under the current sanctions regime, and suggests potential ways to minimize the impact of the sanctions in re-operation of the Kaesong Industrial Region.