North Korea hides weapons at airports and sanctions have been ineffective, UN says
- Confidential report was sent to the Security Council as President Donald Trump prepares for a second summit with Kim Jong-un
North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes remain intact and Pyongyang is using airports and other facilities to shield its weapons from possible US military strikes, according to a UN panel of experts.
The panel said in a report that sanctions against North Korea were “ineffective,” with Pyongyang still able to acquire illegal shipments of oil products, sell banned coal and violate an arms embargo.
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes remain intact,” said the report, using the official name for North Korea. “The panel found that the DPRK is using civilian facilities, including airports for ballistic missile assembly and testing with the goal of effectively preventing ‘decapitation’ strikes.”
The confidential report was sent to the Security Council as President Donald Trump prepares for a second summit this month with leader Kim Jong-un that the US hopes will yield concrete progress in dismantling Pyongyang’s weapons programmes.
The Trump administration has led the drive at the United Nations to impose a series of tough economic sanctions on North Korea in response to its nuclear tests and missile launches in 2017.
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But North Korea has resorted to illegal transfers of oil, fuel and coal using a network of ships at sea to circumvent the UN-imposed measures aimed at depriving Pyongyang of revenue to build up its weapons programmes.
