Russia imposed on Thursday March 28 the dissolution of the UN sanctions monitoring system against North Korea and its nuclear program. A Russian veto in the Security Council deemed “ irresponsible » by South Korea and castigated by the United States and its allies.
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The future of the UN expert group on sanctions against North Korea darkens. On Thursday, at the UN Security Council, Russia vetoed the renewal of its mandate. An episode which illustrates the growing tensions in the Security Council and which risks depriving member states of a tool created in 2009 to shed light on the policies pursued by North Korea, and to fight against its methods to avoid sanctions.
North Korea has in fact been subject to UN sanctions linked to its nuclear program since 2006, reinforced several times in 2016 and 2017. But since 2019, Russia and China, highlighting in particular the humanitarian situation of the North Korean population, are calling for the reduction of these sanctions, which have no end date.
Despite several postponements of the vote to allow negotiations, Russia vetoed on Thursday the draft resolution extending the mandate of this committee by one year. The text received 13 votes in favor, with China abstaining.
An essential tool
Published at the beginning of last March, the first of the two annual reports of the committee of experts could therefore be the last. However, he had highlighted the role of hackers of the regime, the number of workers North Koreans abroad, violations of maritime sanctions and limits on oil imports, as well as the various methods used by Pyongyang to obtain foreign currency while circumventing sanctions.
The committee also claims to have begun to investigate “ informations » reporting the export by North Korea « conventional weapons and ammunition » in violation of sanctions, especially towards Russia.
A crucial tool in the current geopolitical context according to Nicolas de Rivière, permanent representative of France to the United Nations: “ For months, North Korea has been supplying Russia in military equipment in support of its war of aggression in Ukraine, in violation of multiple resolutions that Russia itself voted for. A new nuclear test cannot be ruled out. In this context, who can seriously doubt the need for a group of independent experts to document violations of this council’s resolutions? », he asks to the microphone of our correspondent in Seoul, Nicolas Rocca.
Russian veto widely denounced
To justify his veto, the Russian ambassador assured that the committee had served Western interests and blocked the council’s ability to review the relevance of sanctions over time. An argument rejected by the French ambassador: “ Let no one tell us that it was necessary to modify or sacrifice the mandate of the group of experts to allow a general discussion on the revision of the sanctions. The draft resolution presented today even proposed that such a review take place by April 2025 », he reports.
This Russian coup was immediately denounced by the United States and its allies, who criticize mutual protection between the two countries. “ What Russia has done today cynically undermines world peace and security, all to further a tainted barter that Moscow has sealed » with Pyongyang, reacted Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the American State Department. For its part, Seoul described it as “ irresponsible decision » Russia’s veto, via a press release from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“ This veto is not a sign of concern for the North Korean population or for the effectiveness of the sanctions. This concerns Russia, gaining freedom from violating sanctions in search of weapons to use them against Ukraine “, reported British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward. The committee must continue working until April 30 before its mandate ends. Its disappearance does not call into question the continuity of sanctions against North Korea.
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