One of the oft-repeated statements North Korea watchers have grown accustomed to hearing is that “sanctions will soon start to bite.”

These words have been heard countless times since the first – rather toothless – round of UN measures in 2006, and so far they have been consistently proven wrong: the period when North Korea has faced the strongest UN sanctions has also been the time when its economy has grown faster than at any point in the last 40 years.

However, Resolution 2375, passed in September, might be a game changer. What the resolution says is not that important: