China Boosts N. Korea Border Inspections

A Chinese man at the Customs yard in Dandong hose down trucks arriving from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, the opposite side of the Chinese border city in northeastern China, Monday, Oct. 16, 2006. The Chinese inspections at the border crossing with the North came amid concerns that Beijing would ignore new U.N. sanctions calling for nations to check cargo leaving and arriving from North Korea. China is a major trader with North Korea and its support is key to the success of the new U.N. measures. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (Ng Han Guan - AP)

North Korea's total foreign trade was less than $4 billion last year, though it is growing quickly, according to Chinese and South Korean figures. China accounted for a major portion of that trade, with $1.7 billion in exports and $500 million in imports, according to the Commerce Ministry in Beijing. China also provides up to 90 percent of the North's oil.

There are also questions about how strictly South Korea will enforce the U.N. resolution. The South has significant trade relations with North Korea and its citizens worry about a conventional attack by their unpredictable neighbor.

North Korea's No. 2 ranking leader, Kim Yong Nam, defiantly said the regime would strengthen its military and "achieve a final victory in the historic standoff with the U.S."

The North found a sympathetic ear in Iran, which has also been condemned for its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected the American-initiated measures and accused the U.S. of using the U.N. Security Council as a "weapon to impose its hegemony."

In Washington, Rice warned that U.N. sanctions on North Korea should also be seen by Iran as a strong signal to abandon its nuclear ambitions or face a rebuke from a united international community.

"The Iranian government is watching," she said. "It can now see that the international community will respond" to efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

___

Ng Han Guan reported from Dandong and Audra Ang reported from Beijing. AP writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations.