New York: South Korea's top envoy to the United Nations has accused North Korea of accelerating its illegal activities, following the disbandment of a U.N. expert panel that was monitoring sanctions enforcement on the regime. Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made these remarks during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, which was convened to review developments since the panel's disbandment in April of the previous year. This disbandment occurred after Russia vetoed a resolution for an annual extension of the panel's mandate.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Ambassador Hwang highlighted that North Korea has intensified its illegal activities to bolster its nuclear and missile programs, citing illicit exports of coal and iron, arms transfers, and recent cryptocurrency theft totaling $1.5 billion. He also mentioned the overseas deployment of workers and troops as part of these activities. Hwang criticized Russia for promoting a narrative that sanctions on North Korea have been ineffective, emphasizing that sanctions are only effective when fully implemented. He urged countries with substantial trade and economic ties to North Korea to enhance the effectiveness of sanctions.

Hwang also challenged Russia's stance that North Korea's denuclearization is a "closed" issue, stating that it contradicts the council's decisions, which called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs completely, verifiably, and irreversibly. In response to the disbandment of the U.N. panel, South Korea, the United States, and other countries established the multilateral sanctions monitoring team (MSMT) to continue monitoring the enforcement of UNSC sanctions against North Korea. The council meeting was held at the request of seven members, including South Korea and the U.S.