According to a North Korean ministry, the new sanctions monitoring committee headed by the US is illegal
News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 20th October 2024
A new international sanctions monitoring team headed by the United States was deemed “utterly unlawful and illegitimate” by North Korea’s foreign minister, according to state media on Sunday. After Russia and China blocked monitoring efforts at the UN, the US, South Korea, and Japan announced Wednesday the formation of a new multinational committee to oversee the implementation of sanctions against North Korea.
The team was established in response to Russia’s March rejection of the yearly extension of a U.N. expert panel that had been in charge of monitoring the enforcement of sanctions meant to stop North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs for the previous 15 years. China, North Korea’s main economic supporter and ally, did not cast a ballot. With North Korea accelerating the construction of a nuclear weapons and a number of ballistic missiles, attracting international sanctions, and forging strong military ties with Russia, tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated in recent years. Washington has been stepping up its security cooperation with Japan and South Korea, two important Asian allies.
“The forces involved in the smear campaign against the DPRK will have to pay a dear price for it,” Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said via state news agency KCNA, using the country’s official name. Choe criticised the team, which would be joined by eight other countries, as Washington’s misconduct of flouting the international order and as “the most undisguised violation” of North Korea’s sovereignty.
North Korea’s strong military connections to Moscow have drawn warnings from Seoul and Washington. North Korea has sent 1,500 special forces men to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatization at local military camps, and they will probably be used for action in the conflict in Ukraine, according to a report released by South Korea’s spy agency on Friday. Both North Korea and Russia deny any involvement in arms transfers. South Korean claims that North Korea may have dispatched some military men to aid Russia fight Ukraine have also been rejected by the Kremlin.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he could not confirm reports that North Korea has sent troops to Russia ahead of what could be a deployment to Ukraine, but added such a move would be concerning, if true. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he was willing to lead friendship and cooperation with North Korea to “sustainable and stable development” and contribute to “safeguarding regional and global peace”, North Korean state media reported on Sunday.
