Seoul: South Korea, the United States, the European Union's diplomatic service, and eight other countries issued a joint statement urging a U.N. panel to designate vessels accused of breaching U.N. sanctions against North Korea. This coalition aimed to address violations of the U.N. Security Council sanctions, which prohibit the export of North Korea's coal and iron ore.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the statement from the governments of South Korea, the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Britain, and the European External Action Service emphasized unity against North Korea's evasion tactics. The coalition welcomed a recent briefing by the Open Source Centre, which provided evidence of sanctions evasion.

The briefing presented evidence using vessel imagery, voyage reconstruction, Automatic Identification System manipulation, and port call analysis, indicating violations of the Security Council resolutions. The governments highlighted this evidence concerning seven vessels nominated to the UNSC 1718 Committee for sanctions designation in December and called for swift action.

The UNSC 1718 Committee, established in 2006 following North Korea's first nuclear test, is responsible for overseeing sanctions against North Korea. The joint statement reiterated the committee's mandate under U.N. Security Council resolution 1718, paragraph 12, to examine and address violations, emphasizing the importance of timely designations to maintain the credibility and effectiveness of the U.N. sanctions regime.