The U.S. Gets Tough With North Korea: Bans Sale of IPODs

The U.S. government announced a tough new set of economic sanctions on North Korea today, banning luxury goods believed to be favored by Kim Il Jung and his personal supporters. According to the AP, the banned goods include: “ipods, cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis.” These new sanctions are actually imposed pursuant to a particular provision in the October U.N. Security Council Resolution authorizing new sanctions after North Korea’s nuclear test.

In theory, these sanctions are aimed at Kim Il Jung himself and will irritate him at most. But if the problem with North Korea really is “personal”, then this might actually have a marginal effect. We’ll see.