New York — The UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday aimed at cutting the Asian country’s annual export revenue by a quarter in response to Pyongyang’s fifth and largest nuclear test in September. The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution to slash North Korea’s biggest export, coal, by about 60%, with an annual sales cap of $400.9m, or 7.5-million tonnes, whichever is lower. The US-drafted resolution also bans North Korean copper, nickel, silver and zinc exports — and the sale of statues. Pyongyang is famous for building huge, socialist-style statues, which it exports mainly to African countries.

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