The region’s experience offers a cautionary tale about the limits of the tool.
After eight rounds of UN sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or simply North Korea, the country’s nuclear weapons program accelerated over the past years. The sanctions have not yet had the intended impact and, in some areas, certain ties with North Korea have threatened their effectiveness.
Various countries in the African continent are among those who have been dealing with the Kim regime for decades. The lack of enforcement mechanisms for UN sanctions and the global power dynamics concerning the continent explain why UN sanctions on North Korea have been falling short in Africa. This becomes more critical as North Korea hopes to reduce its dependence on China, since China has been increasingly vocal about starting to enforce the sanctions.
According to reports, trade between North Korea and African countries was at $216.5 million a year on average between 2007 and 2015. Construction agreements with various countries make up a significant portion of this amount, mostly through a North Korean state-owned enterprise called Mansudae. Statues, in particular, were in high demand, according to a UN panel on sanctions. However, the relationship does not stop at construction. The UN Panel report that came out in September accuses Tanzania and Mozambique of contracting Pyongyang to provide support for their air missile systems. And North Korean entities have built arms factories in some countries while providing military training to others, both in clear violation of the sanctions regime.
UN sanctions, consisting mainly of trade restrictions and arms embargoes, have aimed at building economic pressure on North Korea to bring it to the negotiation table concerning its nuclear weapons program. Even though the sanctions’ scope and intensity have increased over the years, their effect on crippling the program has not been successful. And their implementation has been selective. Despite ongoing UN investigation into possible sanctions violations by seven African countries, as of last year, only 15 percent of African UN members were in compliance with the reporting requirements.
