South Korea's top envoy to the UN accused North Korea on Wednesday of having "brazenly" accelerated its illegal activities after a UN expert panel monitoring sanctions enforcement on the recalcitrant regime was disbanded a year ago.
Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made the remarks during a UN Security Council meeting that was convened to take stock of what has happened since the UN panel of experts was disbanded in April last year following Russia's veto of a resolution for an annual extension of the panel's mandate.
"In the absence of the panel, North Korea has brazenly accelerated its illegal activities to support its nuclear and missile programs," Hwang said.
"These include illicit exports of coal and iron, arms transfers, recent cryptocurrency theft totaling $1.5 billion, the overseas dispatch of workers and even the deployment of troops abroad," he added.
In a swipe at Russia, Hwang said that Moscow is promoting the "false" narrative that sanctions on the North have been ineffective and should thus be revised.
"Yet, sanctions are only effective when fully and faithfully implemented," he said. "In particular, countries with substantial trade and economic ties to North Korea need to play a major role in enhancing the effectiveness of the sanctions."
He took issue with Russia's argument framing North Korea's denuclearization as a "closed" issue.
"(It) directly contradicts the decisions of this council, which unequivocally called for North Korea to immediately abandon all nuclear and missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," he said.
Following the disbandment of the UN expert panel, South Korea, the United States and other countries established the multilateral sanctions monitoring team, also known as the MSMT, to keep monitoring the enforcement of UNSC sanctions against North Korea.
The council meeting took place at the request of seven council members, including South Korea and the US. (Yonhap)
