US calls for UN vote Monday on increased North Korea sanctions

The United States told the United Nations Security Council late Friday that it plans to call a meeting Monday to vote on a draft resolution establishing more sanctions on North Korea, officials announced.

“This evening, the United States informed the UN Security Council that it intends to call a meeting to vote on a draft resolution to establish additional sanctions on North Korea on Monday,” the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said in a statement.

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The U.S. is pushing for the U.N. Security Council to cut off oil to North Korea, ban the nation’s exports of textiles and end the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, Reuters reported, citing a draft resolution it saw earlier this week. 

The resolution would also subject North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a travel ban and asset freeze, according to the news outlet.

North Korean ally China and neighboring Russia hold veto power on the Security Council. A draft resolution needs nine affirmative votes from members of the Council and zero vetoes from permanent members in order to pass.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang escalated after North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test last weekend.

North Korea claimed it tested a hydrogen bomb capable of being fit onto an intercontinental ballistic missile, sparking condemnation from the international community.