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Prices At The Pump Are Soaring In North Korea As Sanctions Hit Hard

REUTERS/Jacky Chen

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Ryan Pickrell China/Asia Pacific Reporter
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Fuel prices are surging in North Korea as the international community puts increased pressure on Pyongyang.

Petroleum costs jumped 43 percent Thursday, NK News reports. Prices have risen more than 160 percent since April, signaling that sanctions are starting to put a strain on the rogue regime.

The U.S. has detected “evidence of fuel shortages” in North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed Wednesday evening. The most recent United Nations sanctions resolution, a response to the North’s successful test of a suspected hydrogen bomb, fell short of America’s demand for a full oil embargo, but the new sanctions do cap oil imports.

President Donald Trump recently commented on the noticeable change in the cost of fuel.

While there is no evidence of actual long lines at the pump, due mainly to the lack of cars, many gas stations around Pyongyang have closed and new restrictions limit civilian access to fuel. The president announced Thursday that the U.S. intends to put more sanctions on North Korea.

Since North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, the price of food and daily necessities have also been on the rise, Daily NK reports.

“It seems clear that the economic situation will continue to deteriorate,” a source inside Ryanggang Province told reporters. “Merchants haven’t been overly concerned until now.”

The difficult situation with sanctions is that they have the potential to crush smaller businesses but not the larger state industries, leaving the regime largely unaffected. North Korean leadership has demonstrated time and time again that it is willing to let its people suffer to achieve its nuclear ambitions.

The U.S. and its allies are exhausting all diplomatic options before applying military force, an option which would spread destruction across Northeast Asia.

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