North Korea`s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho attend a bilateral meeting with China`s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers` Meeting in Singapore, August 3, 2018.
SEOUL — Growing reports of North Korea’s sanctions violations are fueling concerns that there may be a further delay in ongoing negotiations on denuclearization between Washington and Pyongyang.
Media reports released late Saturday, citing a confidential UN report, said that North Korea has in fact not halted its nuclear and missile programs and actively continued illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal in 2018. It also states that the North has been cooperating militarily with Syria and suspects moves to arrange an arms deal with Yemen’s Houthis.
The scope of its violations could also extend to textiles, according to the report, which said that the country exported more than $100 million in goods between October 2017 and March 2018 to China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay.
The United Nations Security Council has banned trade of North Korea’s coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, and capped imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products, in the recent decade, in line with the North’s advances in its nuclear and missile program, coupled with military provocations.
The 149-page report, which experts compiled over six months of extensive monitoring, comes on the heels of news concerning Russia’s issuance of visas to North Korean workers and allowing joint ventures with North Korean companies.
Noting the reports, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who attended the Asean Regional Forum in Singapore on Saturday, reminded all nations to abide to the UN Security Council resolutions, while stressing that the US will “take very seriously” any moves that detract from the common goal of bringing about full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The forum, which was expected to serve as a turning point for US-North Korea talks on denuclearization and an official declaration of an end to the Korean War, fell short of expectations, as Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho only shared brief exchanges.
A letter from US President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was delivered, but the lack of a formal meeting was evident.
Ri also proceeded to criticize the White House for insisting on maintaining sanctions until complete disarmament despite a set of measures Pyongyang has recently taken including a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing and the removal of a key nuclear site.
Critics are expressing concerns that the recent turn of events may mar the sense of trust the US and North Korea have been building in recent months following the June 12 summit held in Singapore, and further drag down negotiations on the North’s nuclear weapons program.
“It seems North Korea is seeking a more long-term negotiation based on the bilateral efforts to build trust, while the US wants to change North Korea through sanctions,” said Shin Beom-chul, a senior researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
“But they both want to keep the momentum of dialogue alive — it’s going to be a long, slow turnout of diplomatic exchange from now on. It will be difficult for progress to be made soon if talks between the US and North Korea are not held within this month,” he added.
North Korea also recently repatriated 55 sets of remains of US soldiers killed during the Korean War, which experts say was an exchange made to build a sense of trust between the two nations, as it was one of the agreements made at the June summit.
Though the recent developments may create another roadblock in negotiations, the progress may be re-stimulated upon North Korea’s next move.
“If North Korea takes a meaningful step such as the registration of its nuclear facilities, it may speed up the progress in talks,” said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.