SEOUL – South Korea failed to notify a United Nations sanctions committee when it sent about 300 tonnes of petroleum products to North Korea in 2018, the website NK News reported on Wednesday, suggesting South Korea was slipping on sanctions.
South Korea has urged the partial easing of UN Security Council sanctions at a time of improving ties with the North, as the United States continues to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
South Korea sent 342.9 tonnes of petroleum products to North Korea in 2018, according to the South’s Ministry of Unification, but NK News said the shipments were not reported to the United Nations.
South Korea’s government said on Wednesday it was “complying with the framework of sanctions on North Korea” while pursuing exchange and cooperative projects with the North.
Under UNSC resolution 2397, adopted in 2017, member states must notify a sanctions committee every 30 days of the amount of refined petroleum products supplied, sold or transferred to North Korea. (Reuters)
