North Korea has resorted to a "massive increase" of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea to evade UN sanctions and enlisted a Syrian arms broker to sell weapons to Yemen and Libya, a UN report said Friday (Aug 3).In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed violations of a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, seafood and other products that generate millions of dollars in revenue to Kim Jong Un's regime.
The transfer of petroleum products to North Korean tankers at sea remains "a primary method of sanctions evasion" involving 40 vessels and 130 associated companies, said the report seen by AFP.
North Korea "has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and continued to defy Security Council resolutions through a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products, as well as through transfers of coal at sea during 2018," said the report sent to the council.
The violations have rendered the latest batch of sanctions "ineffective" by flouting the cap on oil, fuel and coal imposed in a raft of UN resolutions adopted last year, it added.
North Korea also "attempted to supply small arms and light weapons (SALW) and other military equipment via foreign intermediaries" to Libya, Yemen and Sudan, said the report.
It named Syrian arms trafficker Hussein Al-Ali who offered "a range of conventional arms, and in some cases ballistic missiles to armed groups in Yemen and Libya" that were produced in North Korea.
With Ali acting as a go-between, a "protocol of cooperation" between Yemen's Huthi rebels and North Korea was negotiated in 2016 in Damascus that provided for a "vast array of military equipment."
The panel continues to investigate the military cooperation that would be in violation of an arms embargo on North Korea.
North Korea continued to receive revenue from exports of banned commodities, for instance deliveries of iron and steel to China, India and other countries that generated nearly US$14 million from October to March.
This must remain front and center in any forward movement on the "agreements" reached in Singapore. If this time is really going to be different, these kinds of activities must not be ignored.
I think they're trying to humble the miracle man who loudly proclaims he's done what no President before him could get done. Go Norkor! I'm with you there for sure.
ReplyDeleteYou like them violating export bans, continuing to build missiles, and selling small arms to Mideast bad guys?
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ReplyDeleteNorth Korea ain't much different from us here stateside who throw the bird at Trump's dictates. He's a liar and a fraud just like Kim. And he ain't our savior or Korea's either despite what he says or tweets.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Norkor in humbling our audacious Commander in Chief, not in their arming rogue states or in their nuclear ambitions but we already had some sane and reasonable statesmen working on that despite what the Tweeter in Chief. I want Trump crushed such that our country never sees the likes of him and his crazed egotistical modus operandi again.
ReplyDelete"Melania Trump broke sharply with her husband on Saturday, after the president maligned NBA star LeBron James' intelligence on Twitter late Friday night. The first lady praised James for his work with children, even saying she is open to visiting the school for underprivileged children he founded in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
ReplyDeleteThe first lady's platform, "Be Best," is all about encouraging children to conduct themselves in an honorable manner, and she has made promoting children's welfare a key piece of her time in the White House."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/melania-trump-praises-lebron-james-after-her-husband-bashes-him/ar-BBLuqaL?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=SL5JDHP
Save discussions about Melania Trump and LeBron James for when they are the topics of posts.
ReplyDeleteHow do you propose that the US, either on its one or sd part of some collaborative effort, stop North Korea from doing there things depicted here?
For that is the point of the present discussion: NK is still up to the things it has always been up to, but with the passage of time, the stakes get higher.
Just another example of the Donald's brand of diplomacy creating pandemonium and the rebellion of his own 3rd spouse. Last week it was his daughter. And he's supposed to be doing what no President has done before in Norkor? I've even seen you applaud him here for that. Not that easy is it?
ReplyDeleteSo maybe you're not surprised Kim is throwing the bird at Trump. Everybody else does. He's sure not shaking in his boots for fear of fire and fury, huh? That's because nothing's really changed since Ike's withdrawal back in '53 despite Trump's braggadocio. They think we will soon have a regime change. That's why I wish Trump was not driving our car. He's pissed on international coalitions and I believe I've seen you comment in favor here. Godspeed! It never was a Sunday drive.
ReplyDeleteOh, actually a few things have changed since 1953. North Korea now has nuclear weapons, biological-warfare weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
ReplyDeleteThe basic stalemate with China on the issue has not basically changed and that's why Norkor has got what it's got. It's kind of an avoiding World War III thing so some as it ever was.
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