North Korea hasn't stopped its nuclear programmes, UN warns
North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programmes, a new UN report has warned.
The report by experts, which was sent to the Security Council on Friday night, said North Korea is violating sanctions by “a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products”, as well as by transferring coal at sea and flouting an arms embargo and financial sanctions.
The panel of experts said the regime tried to sell small arms and light weapons and other military equipment via foreign intermediaries, including Syrian arms traffickers in Yemen as well as Libya and Sudan.
The report also said North Korea has continued military co-operation with Syria, in breach of sanctions.
It said North Korea “has not stopped its nuclear and missiles programmes” and continues to defy the sanctions.
Experts said ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products, oil and coal involve “increasingly sophisticated evasion techniques” including turning off Automatic Identification Systems, physically disguising North Korean tankers, using small unregistered vessels, illegally changing names, carrying out night transfers and using additional vessels to trans-ship cargo.
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The report also said UN financial sanctions are among the most poorly implemented and evaded measures.
The Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and has made them progressively tougher in response to further nuclear tests and its increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile programme.
Progress appeared to have been made thanks to the sanctions, which sharply cut North Korea’s exports and imports, as well as the June summit between US President and Kim Jong Un in which North Korea pledged to completely denuclearise.
But in June, research suggested that North Korea was carrying out improvements at its nuclear testing facility.
North Korea analysis organisation 38 North said satellite images of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre showed that upgrades were being carried out ‘at a rapid pace’.
