For the past 14 years, a U.N. panel of experts has regularly reported on North Korea's expanding nuclear and missile programs and efforts to defy U.N. Security Council sanctions. The latest report, dated March 7, covers 615 pages of North Korea's activities, including 58 suspected cyberattacks against virtual currency-related companies from 2017 to 2023, and reports on North Korea's activities to fund the development of weapons of mass destruction. It has raised about $3 billion. But now these eyes and ears have been removed.
At the March 28 Security Council meeting, Russia vetoed the extension of the panel's work, which it had previously supported. China abstained and 13 other member states voted in favor. As a result, the committee overseeing sanctions against North Korea will expire at the end of this month, and the rest of the world will know even less about North Korea's pursuit than they do now.
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It was a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, undermining sanctions imposed by the United Nations in recent years. More than that, it signals another setback by Russia in the post-Cold War struggle to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
President Putin has sent an estimated 10,000 containers of arms and ammunition to Russia for use in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, filling three major depots near the front lines of the war with more than 3 million containers. repayments to North Korea. Round. South Korea's defense minister said North Korea's weapons factories are working around the clock to produce shells for Russia. A North Korean ballistic missile was launched by Russia into a Ukrainian city. The Financial Times examined satellite images showing Russian vessels transporting oil to North Korea in defiance of sanctions, including at least five tankers in March, which the United Nations This is the first time since strict restrictions were imposed on oil shipments in 2017. President Putin's foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, visited Pyongyang from March 25 to 27 to deepen cooperation, Putin's agency announced. Putin is expected to visit this year.
Six U.S. presidents have tried to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, with little success. After a failed Hanoi summit with President Donald Trump in 2019, Kim gave up hopes of normalizing relations with the United States and deepened ties with Russia while accelerating the pace of his military expansion. It seems like he let it happen.
Russia threw him a lifeline. But what if he wants more than oil and a useful veto at the United Nations? There are concerns that he could ask Russia for help with nuclear weapons and missile technology. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently warned Congress that Russia's needs could undermine “longstanding nonproliferation norms.” Siegfried Haecker, former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Mr. Putin has overturned the global nuclear order that has existed for more than 70 years, including a coordinated effort (once supported by Russia) to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He claimed that he was destroying it. . He pointed out that North Korea may ask Russia for the results of its nuclear weapons test. The Soviet Union conducted 715 nuclear tests, while North Korea conducted only six. Even more disturbing is the possibility that North Korea may request information from Russia about the design of its missiles, warheads, or, most worryingly, the fissile material used to fuel those warheads.
China is North Korea's main trading partner, and although it voted in favor of some of the UN Security Council sanctions, its banks are complicit in violating the sanctions. Given all the other tensions between the US and China, putting strong pressure on China to rein in North Korea is unlikely to be successful at this point. It remains to be seen how China will view Russia's new friendship with Kim. But it is certain that Mr. Kim's noisy missile demonstrations will continue to worry U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. On Tuesday, Kim attended the launch of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile said to be equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle. He also announced that North Korea would switch to solid-fuel missiles with faster launch rates.
The loss of the monitoring panel can be repaired by installing a new monitoring panel, perhaps with G7 support. But the bigger challenge is coming up with new and effective strategies to deal with North Korea. US policy has oscillated between drifting, incentives, Trump's failed summit, and drifting again. As always in the nuclear age, there is a risk of disastrous miscalculations and misunderstandings in conflicts. Putin, a permanent member of the Security Council, has transformed Russia from a global actor that has taken at least basic responsibility on some issues to a rogue state with a common cause with the world's worst nations. It is now even more difficult to contain the risks. System.
