The growing cooperation between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was on stark display when the mandate for the U.N. Security Council’s 1718 Committee Panel of Experts came up for annual renewal. On March 28, Russia vetoed the renewal of the Committee whose mission is to monitor enforcement of sanctions against the DPRK over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller pointed out that for the past 15 years, the 1718 Committee Panel of Experts “has been the gold standard for providing fact-based, independent analysis and recommendations on the implementation of U.N. Sanctions on the DPRK. ... and up until this year it has been renewed by consensus.”
“Russia’s actions today have cynically undermined international peace and security, all to advance the corrupt bargain that Moscow has struck with the DPRK,” he said. “Moscow appears to be intent on facilitating the DPRK’s illegal pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and its veto today was a self-interested effort to bury the panel’s reporting on its own collusion with the DPRK to secure weapons that it can use to further its aggression against Ukraine.”
The U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations, Robert Wood, said that Russia’s veto will only embolden the DPRK’s quest for weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
“As the DPRK jeopardizes global security through the development of long-range ballistic missiles and sanctions evasion efforts. This is not the behavior of a responsible Member State, let alone a permanent member of the Security Council. And China — with its abstention — has once again shown us where it stands on curbing DPRK proliferation,” he said.
Ambassador Wood emphasized that all Security Council resolutions and U.N. measures against the DPRK’s unlawful pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles remain in effect.
“And it is the responsibility of every Member State to fully abide by these Security Council obligations,” he said.
“The United States,” Ambassador Wood declared, “remains committed to continue to work with allies and willing partners to hold the DPRK and its defenders accountable for its actions.”
