| ID | 130373 |
| Title Proper | UN report |
| Other Title Information | enforce N. Korea sanctions |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Davenport, Kelsey |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | UN member states should focus on significantly improving implementation of existing sanctions to slow North Korea's prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs rather than passing new measures, a March 6 report to the UN Security Council recommended. The report, written by a panel of experts authorized under UN Security Council Resolution 1874 in 2009, found that North Korea has developed "multiple and tiered circumvention techniques" to evade sanctions and continue work on the banned programs but that states have "adequate tools" to prevent Pyongyang's illicit trafficking.
Together, Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094 prohibit arms sales and transfers of nuclear and ballistic missile technology to North Korea, ban the sale of luxury items to Pyongyang, and give states broad authority to inspect North Korean cargo suspected of violating these measures if it passes through their territories. The mandate for the panel of experts includes assessing the effect of the sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and providing recommendations for better implementing restrictive measures on Pyongyang. An incident last July involving a North Korean ship carrying Cuban weapons helped inform the panel's recommendations, as it gave them "unrivalled insight" into the ways that Pyongyang circumvents sanctions, the report said. Panama stopped the ship carrying Cuban weapons to North Korea on July 15, charging a violation of UN Security Council sanctions that prohibit transfers of arms to Pyongyang. (See ACT, September 2013.) According to a July 16 statement by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the "obsolete defensive weaponry," made in the Soviet Union, was being shipped to North Korea for repair. After investigating the ship's cargo, the panel found that the shipment violated UN Security Council resolutions prohibiting the "indirect supply, sale or transfer" of arms to North Korea. Under the resolutions, Pyongyang also is not permitted to provide "technical training, advice, services or assistance" related to the maintenance of weaponry, the panel said. According to the report, the illegal cargo was hidden among bags of sugar and included two MiG aircraft, 15 MiG aircraft engines, components for surface-to air-missiles, ammunition, and "miscellaneous arms-related material." |
| `In' analytical Note | Arms Control Today Vol.44, No.3; April 2014: p.43-44 |
| Journal Source | Arms Control Today Vol.44, No.3; April 2014: p.43-44 |
| Key Words | United Nations - UN ; North Korea ; Chemical Weapons ; Disarmament ; Arms Control ; Panama ; UNSC ; Weapons ; Nuclear Weapons |