U.S., Allies to Ban Sale of iPods, Luxury Items to North Korea

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 29, 2006 - 2:40pm.

Washington - The Bush Administration is proposing "luxury" sanctions against North Korea that would prevent the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, from obtaining items like iPods, plasma TVs, expensive cars, caviar and foreign liquors, the Associated Press reported.

The U.N. Security Council recently voted to impose sanctions on military supplies and weapons shipments to North Korea in the aftermath of a nuclear weapons test.

The luxury item sanctions, in the works at the United Nations, would represent the first instance where the U.S. government proposed trade restrictions aimed generally at annoying a foreign leader.

"The problem is there has always been and will always be this group of people who work at getting these goods illegally," former senior Commerce Dept. official William Reinsch told AP, adding that items like iPods are "untraceable and available all over the place."

Related Links:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/29/D8LMJCHO0.html (AP)