The move comes amid US-led accusations that North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia, which Moscow has used in its war in Ukraine.
“This is almost comparable to destroying a CCTV to avoid being caught red-handed,” said South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang of Russia’s veto. China abstained from the vote on Thursday, while the remaining 13 council members voted in favor. …
“Moscow has undermined the prospect of the peaceful, diplomatic resolution of one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear proliferation issues,” deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia…
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia questioned the experts’ work, telling the Security Council before the vote: “Its work is increasingly being reduced to playing into the hands of Western approaches, reprinting biased information and analyzing newspaper headlines and poor quality photos.”
Formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs since 2006 and those measures have been strengthened over the years.
The panel of independent experts has monitored those U.N. sanctions for the past 15 years, reporting twice a year to the Security Council and recommending action for improved implementation of the measures.
The mandate for the current panel of experts will expire on April 30, 2024. The panel’s most recent report was made public earlier this month and said it was investigating dozens of suspected cyberattacks by North Korea that raked in $3 billion to he…
“The panel, through its work to expose sanctions non-compliance, was an inconvenience for Russia,” said Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward. “But let me be clear to Russia – the sanctions regime remains in place and the UK remains committed to…