MOSCOW, May 3 (Itar-Tass) —— The sanctions against North Korea do not work and are useless, the director of research programs at the Modern Korea Studies Center of the IMEMO (Institute of World Economy and International Relations) Georgy Toloraya, told Itar-Tass in an interview.
“The sanctions against North Korea do not work. They evoke only negative responses and new provocations,” the analyst said. “True, life is getting harder for the North Koreans, especially for the ordinary population. But that does not influence the conduct of Pyongyang. It rather makes it more angry.”
In a situation where North Korea is making rather provocative statements and is probably getting ready for another nuclear test “sanctions are unlikely to change the conduct of the North Koreans, so the pressures are useless.”
“All conceivable sanctions against North Korea have already been taken,” the analyst explained. “The current sanctions against some North Korean companies add little.”
About the possibility of a nuclear test he said that Pyongyang needed it.
“There is a chance the test may take place,” Toloraya said.
At the same time he remarked that the world community had not yet achieved the peak of the crisis in relations with North Korea.
“The time for negotiations will not come soon,” the expert said. “When that day comes, we shall see what Kim Jong-un is prepared for, what sort of measures he is be ready to take.”
So far, he said, the new North Korean leader has had no such opportunity.