North Korea Sanctions
Russian lies and global dangers
The UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 1718) was adopted in 2006 in response to North Korea’s nuclear test in October of that year. The resolution, passed under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the UN Charter, imposed a series of economic and commercial sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and was passed unanimously by the Security Council.
UNSCR 1718 called on North Korea to stop its nuclear testing and ballistic-missile launches, suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program, and "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.”
Weapons of mass destruction and their associated items were banned from export to the DPRK, as were weapons and materiel, such as battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, and any other items identified by the sanctions committee to North Korea—established to gather more information, specify and monitor sanctions, and issue recommendations—as well as their components and parts. The UNSCR included asset freezes and travel bans, as well as a ban on the export of luxury goods to the DPRK. A UN Panel of Experts was subsequently established in 2009 to monitor the implementation of UN sanctions.
Russia at the time supported UNSCR 1718, but now that Moscow has very few friends to help it shore up its military capabilities so it can continue murdering Ukrainians and targeting civilian infrastructure in the country, the DPRK has taken on a new importance for Vladimir Putin, and Russia in April vetoed the extension of the mandate for the Panel of Experts.
This does not mean that the sanctions against North Korea are no longer valid. UNSCR 1718 remains in place, but the implementation of sanctions has become a little tougher. Individual nations are stepping up and enhancing the use of their defense forces to monitor and enforce UN sanctions against the DPRK.
New Zealand last month committed to sending military vessels and increase the frequency of deployments of aircraft to support sanctions monitoring until September 2026.
The United States, South Korea, and Japan are pushing the idea of a new multinational panel of experts, possibly outside the UN, to monitor sanctions compliance after Russia scuppered the renewal of the mandate for the Panel of Experts.
The United States, along with 50 countries, in May called for continued monitoring of sanctions on North Korea’s weapons programs. The full list of nations that signed the joint statement drafted by the United States included Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the U.K., the U.S. and the delegation of the EU.
I’ve written here about Russia’s lies and the reason—even though the majority of the world does not believe them—Moscow continues to proudly spread disinformation. Russian officials don’t even blush when they lie. It’s easy for them, and we have to wonder whether they’ve been lying for so long, they have no idea what is true any longer.
Russia claims that it has not violated international sanctions imposed on North Korea, which is an assertion that has been disproven multiple times.
The press in April reported that Russia has been supplying oil directly to the DPRK, violating UNSC sanctions that cap shipments at 500,000 barrels per year. In exchange, according to the reports, North Korea likely ships thousands of containers of munitions by sea, rail, and air to help replenish Russia's stockpiles for its war in Ukraine.
The evidence? Satellite imagery.
The imagery shows that the Paek Yang San 1 arrived at Russia’s Vostochny Port on April 2 and remained there for about a week, according to DC-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) citing imagery from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). The vessel’s previous voyages indicate that it was taking its cargo to North Korea's Chongjin, although CSIS could not 100 percent confirm that assessment. The ship had turned off its automatic identification system (AIS) transponder to cover its tracks—a common sanctions evasion tactic flagged by regulators in 2020. The Paek Yang San 1’s arrival followed at least five similar visits at the port by North Korean tankers, according to RUSI.
The Maria appeared in satellite imagery of Vostochny Port around April 3, and it also had switched its AIS off to avoid detection. The Togo-flagged vessel is sanctioned by the United States, along with Russia-flagged Pizhma, Sparta, Sparta III (aka Ursa Major), and Sparta IV.
According to the press report, “the Maria, the Lady R, and the Angara, the Maia-1 made 32 port calls at the North Korean city Rason since the supply runs were first tracked last August.”
South Korea in April said it was investigating a vessel for UN sanctions violations against the DPRK.
South Korean authorities seized the 3,000-ton cargo ship known as the DEYI, …which was not registered to a country, in waters off the country's south coast, Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported.
It was held while reportedly "en route to Russia from the North via China," the agency report said, citing security sources.
Reuters in April reported that China allowed a US-designated Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia to moor at a Chinese shipyard in eastern Zhejiang province for several months. RUSI reports that the Russian ship Angara since August 2023 has moved thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions to Russia.
…the Angara has regularly shuttled containers from the port of Rajin to the Russian facility at Dunai, being joined by a second cargo vessel named the Maria on 12 September and a third vessel named the Lady R on 6 October. While the vessels are still operating without transmitting on their AIS transponders, dozens of satellite images show the vessels continually loading and delivering cargo from North Korea to Russia.
The imagery is overwhelmingly compelling, making Russia’s denials even more ridiculous. Imagery is widely considered to be reliable as a source.
In addition, both the Angara and the aforementioned Maria are operated by companies with connections to Russia’s military logistics networks. M Leasing and Marine Trans Shipping were designated by the United States shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and flagged as a secondary sanctions risk last week after OFAC a few weeks ago directed that any foreign financial institution that supports any entity designated pursuant to EO 14024 can be subject to US sanctions now that Russia has pivoted to a full-time war economy.
And if the vessels were not transporting banned or restricted goods and commodities, why take the risky step of turning off AIS to obscure their paths? The AIS helps reduce risks of collisions. It displays vessels in the vicinity, including data on identity, type, position, speed, navigational status, and other safety-related information. In addition, experts say that the AIS “enables the exchange of data with shore-based facilities as coast stations can use the AIS channels to send information on tides, notice to mariners (NTMs) and local weather conditions.”
Another media report in February indicated that new banking ties between Russia and North Korea also help Pyongyang evade sanctions.
Russia has allowed the release of $9 million out of $30 million in frozen North Korean assets deposited in a Russian financial institution…
In addition, a North Korean front company recently opened an account at another Russian bank, the intelligence officials say, evidence that Moscow may be helping Pyongyang get around U.N. sanctions that prohibit most banks from doing business with North Korea.
[…]
The new bank account is held in South Ossetia, a self-proclaimed independent state in the Caucasus region that has close connections with Russia…
The evidence may be considered circumstantial (disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer), but it’s pretty overwhelming. An assessment is an educated estimation based on analysis of existing evidence and the credibility of the sources that provide said evidence.
And the evidence is pretty damning. Kim’s sister—the charming bag of psycho Kim Yo Jong—publicly confirmed that Putin gifted her brother a luxury Russian limousine, conveniently forgetting about that UN ban on luxury items to the DPRK. In addition, Putin, after his latest tete-a-tete with Kim publicly called on Russia and North Korea to cooperate in evading sanctions. He also outright thanked Pyongyang for its support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Yet, Russia engages in handwavium when confronted with evidence of its violations and denies violating UN sanctions, which it claims to respect. But Moscow’s veto of the UN Panel of Experts is pretty telling, considering that the Panel’s last report (choose your language and continue to the more than 600-page document) confirms multiple instances of Russia’s violations. The Panel noted in that report that Russia stopped releasing its official trade data in April 2022, likely making assessments about the volume and substance of its trade with the DPRK difficult. The Panel also highlights several cases of violations involving Russia.
95. The Panel continues to examine the case of Ashot Mkrtychev, a Slovakian national. To the Panel’s enquiries, the Slovakian authorities responded that they “do not have any additional information that would allow them to further clarify the claims … after [Mkrtychev’s] inclusion on the [Office of Foreign Assets Control] sanctions list, the bank account … was cancelled … the account had a zero balance and was blocked for any transactions” (see annex 45).
96. The Panel notes a Member State press release that Mr. Mkrtychev reportedly holds key positions within three entities, including Slovakia-based Versor S.R.O., linked to a sanctions evasion network allegedly supporting arms deals between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation. The Panel has yet to receive responses from multiple Member States. Investigations continue.
Conveniently, the investigations will not continue, since Russia effectively ended the Panel of Experts and its efforts to examine the continued North Korean violations, including Russia’s participation in them.
In September 2023, the Panel of Experts provided a mid-term report that also highlighted Russian and North Korean violations of UN sanctions.
The Panel continued to investigate allegations of the export by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of armaments to the Russian Federation. In addition to a claim that in November 2022 ammunition (artillery shells, infantry rockets and missiles) was delivered by rail, the United States reported that KOMID and the Wagner Group were behind the deal. The Russian Federation replied: “The photographs provided ‘by one Member State’ are not comprehensive evidence and do not show a violation of the international restrictive measures imposed against Pyongyang. The movement of goods to/from the [DPRK] is carried out taking into account the requirements of the Security Council resolutions concerning this country. The Council’s sanctions prohibitions and restrictions are being complied with. The competent Russian authorities found no violations” (see annex 57). The Panel has not obtained further evidence and still cannot confirm that the train in the imagery provided was used to transport ammunition.
As you can see, Russia simply denies the accusations. Whom are you going to believe - Russian assertions or satellite imagery and your own lying eyes?
The end of the Panel of Experts and Russia’s deepening ties with the DPRK represent an urgent threat to not just Ukraine, but also world peace, as North Korea continues to advance its efforts to acquire nuclear capabilities and other weapons with which to threaten the global order. The relationship between Russia and the DPRK is a symbiotic bond between two parasites.
Kim wants advanced telemetry, nuclear submarine technology, military satellite wares, and advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology. Putin needs Kim’s weapons to make up for a monthly munitions shortfall of 50,000 rounds (even if Russia is producing ammunition at full capacity) in his pursuit of victory in Ukraine. A gaggle of Russian scientists were in North Korea prior to this month’s military satellite launch. Kim has also been expressing satisfaction with his nuclear submarine plans, which is a very bad sign. This aspect of the relationship not only destabilizes security on the peninsula and in Asia; it also heightens the direct threat posed by North Korea to the homeland. ICBMs with advanced countermeasure technology, overhead reconnaissance capabilities, and nuclear submarines would allow Kim to target the entirety of the United States with a nuclear force that Washington would have difficulty taking out in a preemptive first strike.
Maybe a coalition of global powers outside the UN really should coordinate to stop not just Russia’s aggression and mass murder in Ukraine, but also Moscow’s tango with North Korea. With Russia and China as permanent members of the UNSC, that group is hamstrung and ineffective.
Re the AIS systems, both Class A and Class B 'can' have transmit disabled (either software or hardware) and continue to 'receive' AIS data from others. The quickest way to shut this mess down is seizure of vessels because the total number used for these exchanges is actually fairly small, and once the 'ownership' trail is unwound, most of them trace back to specific companies already under sanction.