US and allies accuse North Korea and Russia of flagrantly violating UN
sanctions in military deals
[May 30, 2025]
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and 10 allies on Thursday said
the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea flagrantly
violates U.N. sanctions and has helped Moscow increase its missile
strikes on Ukrainian cities.
They made the accusations in their first report since joining forces to
monitor sanctions against North Korea after Russia vetoed a resolution
in March 2024 to continue the monitoring by a U.N. Security Council
panel of experts. It had been issuing reports of Pyongyang’s sanctions
violations since 2010.
The 29-page report produced by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring
Team — comprised of the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom —
said the evidence it gathered demonstrates that North Korea and Russia
have engaged in “myriad unlawful activities” explicitly prohibited by
U.N. sanctions resolutions.
It said North Korea has transferred arms and related materiel by sea,
air and rail, including artillery, ballistic missiles and combat
vehicles, for Russia’s use in the war in Ukraine.
Russia has transferred air defense systems to North Korea, and its
forces trained the North’s troops deployed to support Russia's war, the
team said. And Moscow also has supplied refined petroleum products to
Pyongyang in far excess of the yearly cap under U.N. sanctions, and has
maintained corresponding banking relations with the North in violation
of sanctions.
The 11 countries said this unlawful cooperation has “contributed to
Moscow’s ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian
cities including targeted strikes against critical civilian
infrastructure.”
The cooperation also has provided resources for North Korea to fund its
military and banned ballistic missile programs., and it allowed the more
than 11,000 troops Pyongyang has deployed to Russia since October 2024
to gain first-hand military experience, the team said.
There was no immediate response from the Russian Mission to the United
Nations to a request for comment on the report.
The report covers the period between Jan. 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025,
and points to evidence that Russia and North Korea intend to further
deepen their military cooperation for at least the foreseeable future.
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North Korean Public Security Minister Pang Tu Sop, right, meets with
Russian Vice Interior Minister Vitaly Shulika at the Mansudae
Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jon Chol Jin)
It cites an unnamed country in the team reporting that
Russian-flagged cargo vessels delivered as many as 9 million rounds
of ammunition for artillery and multiple rocket launchers from North
Korea to Russia in 2024.
The report includes images of containers, which the team says were
from North Korean and Russian ports and an ammunition dump in
Russia.
Citing an unnamed team member, the report says North Korea last year
transferred at least 100 ballistic missiles to Russia, which were
launched into Ukraine “to destroy civilian infrastructure and
terrorize populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia." It also
transferred “elements of three brigade sets of heavy artillery,” the
report said.
It includes images of a North Korean 170mm self-propelled gun that
it said was being transported through Russia, and North Korean
multiple rocket launcher ammunition and an anti-tank missile it said
were found in Ukraine.
The team said in a joint statement that it will continue to monitor
implementation of U.N. resolutions “and raise awareness of ongoing
attempts to violate and evade U.N. sanctions.” It urged North Korea
“to engage in meaningful diplomacy.”
The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first
nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in
a total of 10 resolutions seeking — so far unsuccessfully — to cut
funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in December
2017. China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in May
2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of
intercontinental ballistic missile launches, and have blocked all
other U.N. action against North Korea.
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