Japan, South Korea announce sanctions over Russia-North Korea arms trade

Pyongyang is accused of sending thousands of containers of munitions to Moscow for its use in the war against Ukraine.

Japan and South Korea have announced separate sanctions packages targeting companies, vessels or individuals allegedly involved in supplying North Korean weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, in violation of United Nations resolutions.

Friday’s announcements come just days before the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China meet in Seoul for their first trilateral summit in nearly five years.

Recently, Pyongyang has been accused of sending thousands of containers of munitions to Russia, and experts have said Pyongyang’s recent testing spree may be of weapons destined for use on battlefields in Ukraine.

On Friday, Japan’s top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tokyo “strongly condemns” the alleged deals.

“We have cooperated with allies like the United States to freeze the assets of 11 groups and one individual involved in the Russia-North Korea military assistance meant to support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine,” he told reporters.

“It violates the UN security resolutions that categorically ban the transfer with North Korea of weapons and related materials.”

Japan’s Asahi newspaper reported that nine of the groups and the individual were in Russia while the other two organisations, based in Cyprus, allegedly helped transport weapons from North Korea.

In August, the US Treasury Department imposed similar sanctions as it said Russia was using up munitions and losing heavy equipment in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to turn to its few allies, including Pyongyang, for support.

Russia has been waging a war against Ukraine since 2014, and it launched a full-scale invasion against its former Soviet satellite state in 2022.

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