NEW YORK, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday on new North Korea sanctions that is to include a ban on the country's coal exports to China.
The resolution could have a significant impact on North Korea's revenue from trade. Coal exports jumped in October year-on-year, according to Voice of America, and most of the revenue may be being allocated to Office 39, the personal slush fund of Kim Jong Un.
The sanctions resolution is a joint response from the 15-member nations at the Security Council to Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test in September and its test-missile provocations.
Permanent members of the Security Council including China have already agreed on a draft resolution and it is expected to pass unanimously, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
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After the vote U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Japan's U.N. Ambassador Koro Bessho, and South Korean Amb. Oh Joon are to hold a press conference explaining the details of the resolution.
An earlier agreement last week on the draft resolution may have paved a way to the decision that is to be announced on Wednesday.
Washington and Beijing held talks and agreed to close loopholes related to North Korea's coal exports, after the United States reportedly proposed a tightening of restrictions on the coal trade.
According to Yonhap, an upper limit on North Korea coal could lead to a 38 percent reduction in exports, allowing a maximum of $400.9 million of trade or 7.5 million tons annually, whichever is lower, in 2017.
Other minerals subject to export bans include silver, copper, nickel and iron.
The sanctions come at a time when North Korea coal trade in China has jumped 70 percent year-on-year, according to VOA.
Data from Seoul's Korea International Trade Association that cites information from China's customs service show that in October North Korea's coal exports to China were valued at $102 million, up 69.7 percent from October 2015.
