Ordinary North Koreans know sanctions are for Kim Jong Un, report says

SEOUL, March 17 (UPI) -- Ordinary North Koreans are not worried the recently passed United Nations sanctions will hurt their livelihoods.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270, which passed unanimously on March 3, is not a concern for North Koreans who make a living independent of the centralized planning system of the Pyongyang regime, Asia Press reported.

An undercover reporter in North Korea interviewed locals who are already struggling under difficult circumstances.

One woman in her thirties said she runs a small business. Although her husband works at a state-owned enterprise, they "never mind whether they impose sanctions or not, since it is really hard for us to manage a life."

Since the Kim Jong Un government doesn't distribute rice or rations, her family barely makes ends meet, the unidentified woman said.

The North Korean also said she had heard about the sanctions but knew little of the details. Embargoes on North Korean coal exports to China have no relevance to the vast majority of North Korea's poor, because they have always been forced to "adapt themselves" to the tough situation in the country, she said.

The interviewee did say she knew the sanctions were being imposed on the country in response to the North's announced nuclear test and rocket launch, but that the sanctions are hitting "Pyongyang," meaning "Kim Jong Un."

North Korea has been hinting that it could conduct a fifth nuclear test, and has said that it now has the capability to miniaturize nuclear warheads.

Such moves would not be tolerated at the U.N., according to Oh Joon, the South Korean ambassador to the United Nations.

Oh said a "trigger clause" in a past Security Council resolution would automatically require significant responses to additional North Korea provocations, Voice of America reported.