North Korea thanks Russia for blocking UN sanctions monitoring

FILE PHOTO: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un attend a meeting at the Vostochny ?osmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, September 13, 2023 in this image released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA./File Photo

North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday thanked Russia for using its veto power to effectively end official UN monitoring of sanctions on his nation.

Kim Song said Pyongyang “highly appreciates the Russian Federation’s veto” that blocked the renewal of an expert sanctions panel, “as an independent exercise of the right to international justice and impartiality.”

North Korea has been under mounting sanctions since 2006, put in place by the UN Security Council in response to its nuclear program.

But since 2019, Russia and China have tried to persuade the Security Council to ease the sanctions, which have no expiration date.

Two weeks ago, Russia vetoed a vote extending the mandate of the committee responsible for sanctions monitoring, while China abstained.

The move prompted backlash from Western capitals, as it came amid a probe into alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Seoul has accused Pyongyang of sending thousands of containers of weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

During a debate Thursday at the General Assembly, which must follow any veto, Kim attacked what he called “the heinous hostile policy of the US to trample underfoot (North Korea’s) sovereignty (and) right to development and existence.”