North Korea is increasing the scale and refinement of the tactics it uses to evade international sanctions, particularly in the lucrative trade in military
NEW YORK – North Korea is increasing the scale and refinement of the tactics it uses to evade international sanctions, particularly in the lucrative trade in military technology, according to a summary of a U. N. experts’ report obtained by Kyodo News.
The country’s movement of illicit ammunition, weapons and natural resources continues to prop up the regime of Kim Jong Un. The report blames a lack of political will on the part of the international community in effectively enforcing the implementation of sanctions.
“The DPRK is flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication,” the report reads. DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“(The sanctions implementation) effort has not yet been matched by the requisite political will, prioritization and resource allocation to ensure effective implementation,” the summary warned.
According to the report, the problem was laid bare when in August the largest shipment of ammunition in the sanctions period was discovered.
Maritime databases, which track vessels, indicated that the Cambodian-flagged ship reached a port in Egypt.
“An interdiction of the vessel Jie Shun was the largest seizure of ammunition in DPRK sanctions history,” according to the document.
A source informed Kyodo News the Egyptian port was not the general cargo ship’s final destination, despite its strategic location near a number of regional conflict hot spots.
