Pyongyang has been defying sanctions, selling weapons abroad, UN report says
The report says that North Korean diplomats play a key role in sanctions evasion by setting up multiple bank accounts. Pics/AFP
North Korea has pressed ahead with its nuclear and missile programs and continues to evade UN sanctions through increased illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea, according to a UN report.
In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed violations of a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, seafood and other products that generate millions of dollars in revenue for Kim Jong Un's regime.
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Pyongyang "has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and continued to defy Security Council resolutions through a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products, as well as through transfers of coal at sea during 2018,"said the report. The transfer of petroleum products to North Korean tankers at sea remains "a primary method of sanctions evasion" involving 40 vessels and 130 associated companies,it added.
The violations have rendered the latest batch of sanctions "ineffective" by flouting the cap on oil, fuel and coal imposed in a raft of UN resolutions adopted last year, it added.
US behaviour 'alarming'
Singapore: North Korea yesterday said the US was acting with "alarming" impatience on the issue of denuclearisation, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed the need to maintain full sanctions pressure on Pyongyang. At the ASEAN Regional Forum, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho criticised US impatience on denuclearisation. "What is alarming, however, is the insistent moves manifested within the US to go back to the old, far from its leader's intention," he said, according to a statement.
US warns Russia on enforcing sanctions
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday warned Russia, China and other countries against any violation of international sanctions on North Korea that could reduce pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons.
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