UN Security Council Passes New Sanctions Against North Korea

The United Nations Security Council voted Monday to impose a fresh round of sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test.

The new restrictions include a ban on the country's textile exports and caps on imports of refined petroleum products and crude oil.

The newly approved sanctions are more lenient than the restrictions the U.S. proposed earlier this month.

The original resolution called for an oil embargo. Experts said cutting off Pyongyang's crude oil supply could have paralyzed its economy. 

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After all, oil is critical to keeping the country's military up and running. It uses about a third of the oil North Korea imports, according to an expert who spoke to The New York Times. 

But the two countries that provide North Korea with that oil were hesitant to support an embargo. Officials in China and Russia advocated for a more diplomatic approach to convince the North to back off its ballistic and nuclear weapons programs. 

North Korea's most recent nuclear test was reportedly its biggest yet. On Sept. 3, the country said it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb designed to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Before Monday's Security Council vote, the North Korean foreign ministry warned the U.S. would pay a "due price" for pushing for tougher sanctions.