Arms trade between Russia and North Korea is a violation of international sanctions, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, adding that Washington will look into ways to monitor violations.
During a visit to the South Korean capital of Seoul on Wednesday, Greenfield said that the US will work with allies like Japan and South Korea to explore measures both inside and outside the UN to oversee the work of a Security Council Panel of Experts — a sanctions watchdog on North Korea.
“We cannot allow the work that the Panel of Experts were doing to lapse,” the US ambassador said at a news conference.
During her visit to South Korea, following which she will head to Japan, Greenfield held talks with senior officials to discuss ways to expand the role of the panel that has been scrutinising the development of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal for the past 15 years. However, the group’s work might be affected after Russia vetoed a resolution that could bring the panel to a halt.
Blaming Russia and North Korea for violating global sanctions, Greenfield said, “Russia has already been breaking the sanctions regime. They are purchasing weapons against Security Council resolutions.”
Countries around the world, including the US, South Korea and Japan, have accused North Korea of providing large amounts of weapons like ballistic missiles, artillery shells and other military equipment to Russia at a time when it is waging a war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, long-time allies, Moscow and Pyongyang have forged a new partnership since Kremlin’s full-scale assault against Kyiv.