N. Korea defying military bans
U.N. report says country expanding nukes, missile program
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. experts say North Korea is flouting U.N. sanctions by expanding its nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile program and by exporting coal and illegally importing refined petroleum products in excess of its annual quota.
The experts said in key sections of a report obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press that North Korea has also evaded sanctions through “targeted” cyberattacks against officials of countries on the U.N. Security Council and on members of its expert panel. They did not elaborate or identify which of the 15 council nations were targeted.
In the report to the Security Council, the experts said North Korea has maintained its nuclear facilities and continues to produce fissile material, including highly enriched uranium, that can be used in nuclear weapons.
It has also continued “to develop infrastructure and capacity for its ballistic missile program” and moved ahead on construction of an experimental light water reactor, they said.
The independent panel quoted several unidentified countries as saying North Korea has “probably” developed miniaturized nuclear weapons that can fit into its ballistic missiles.
One unnamed country says Pyongyang may seek to further develop “miniaturization” of components “in order to allow incorporation of technological improvements … or, potentially, to develop multiple warhead systems,” the experts said.
The panel’s report was issued as
U.S. efforts to get North Korea to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs remain stalled, with little prospect of a new summit between President Donald Trump and Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un before the U.S. presidential election in November.
The report also was issued amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim reaffirmed last month that North Korea has not has a single case of the coronavirus though outsiders widely doubt the country escaped the pandemic entirely.
U.N. sanctions, initially imposed after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, are not supposed to hurt the North Korean people. The experts said “there can be little doubt, however, that they have had negative effects.”