U.S. and allies ask U.N. to halt refined oil supply to N. Korea

The United States and its allies, including South Korea, have asked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to stop supplying additional refined oil to North Korea, accusing Pyongyang of breaching a U.N. sanctions cap on refined petroleum mainly through illicit transfers between ships at sea.

According to U.N. sources on Wednesday (local time), 26 countries, including the U.S. and South Korea, asked the UNSC sanctions committee to demand an immediate halt to deliveries of refined petroleum to North Korea.

The U.S.-led complaint to the UNSC’s North Korea sanctions committee listed 79 illegal maritime deliveries of refined petroleum this year, concluding that the North had breached an annual cap of 500,000 barrels imposed by the UNSC Resolution 2397. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said in the report that the restriction on North Korea’s refined petroleum imports is “critical” to maintaining pressure on Pyongyang to achieve the “final, fully verified denuclearization” of the North.

Meanwhile, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held a closed-door meeting with envoys from the 15 UNSC member countries on Wednesday, the anniversary of the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore last year. The meeting is viewed as a U.S. intention to share the results of its denuclearization negotiations with the North and coordinate North Korea sanctions among the member states.


Yong Park parky@donga.com