Russia holds information talks with North Korea, vetoes vote at UN, Japan ‘continues North Korea-Japan summit’
After an information meeting with North Korea, Russia exercised its first veto in the UN Security Council vote, and Prime Minister Kishida announced his intention to continue the North Korea-Japan summit, which North Korea rejected.
Russia's veto came out for the first time during the UN Security Council resolution vote on the 28th.
The original Security Council resolution was to ‘extend by one year’ the authority of the expert panel that monitors sanctions against North Korea, and due to Russia’s veto, its operation will end at the end of next month at the end of April.
AP said, “Russia exercised its veto on the UN resolution, effectively abolishing the UN expert panel’s monitoring of UN sanctions against North Korea.”
On the 26th, when the North Korea-Russia intelligence meeting was held in Pyongyang, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the ‘designation of six additional people for sanctions against South Korea and North Korea.’
At a press conference following the passage of the budget on the 29th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the continuation of the North Korea-Japan summit, referring to "North Korea, a neighboring country" and saying, "We are directly involved in high-level negotiations with North Korea to resolve various bilateral issues."
Prime Minister Kishida reiterated his determination to work for a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un to realize the return of Japanese nationals believed to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, adding, "I am committed to making this happen for Japan." “I am concentrating on it,” he said.
In Japan, Chairman Kim Jong-il and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met in Pyongyang in 2002, and Chairman Kim said at the time, “In the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese agents kidnapped 13 Japanese people and returned five of them to Japan.”
Afterwards, in 2004, Prime Minister Koizumi's second visit to North Korea was held as a North Korea-Japan summit, and while North Korea was in a standoff of 'resolving the abductees' and Japan's conservatives were in conflict over 'unresolution', Prime Minister Kishida promoted the North Korea-Japan summit and held a North Korea-Japan soccer game in Pyongyang. On the 26th, just before the opening of the South Korea-led '6 additional sanctions against North Korea', the U.S. Treasury Department announced.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzha responded to the veto vote, saying, "Western countries in the Security Council are trying to 'strangle' North Korea, and sanctions have lost their 'validity' in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons in North Korea." “It’s far away,” he said.
Speaking to the expert panel, Ambassador Nevenja said, "We are increasingly playing to Western approaches, reprinting biased information and analyzing newspaper headlines and low-quality photos." “It essentially acknowledges the inability to provide an evaluation,” he said, AP reported.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood criticized Russia for the mission's activities, saying, "Russia is trying to silence an independent and objective investigation, which is essential and began last year to report on Russia's blatant violations of UN Security Council resolutions."
The UN Security Council's resolution of sanctions against North Korea was the first since North Korea's first nuclear test exploded in 2006, and sanctions have been strengthened to a total of 10 resolutions over the years, but they have not been successful to date.
The final sanctions resolution was adopted by the Security Council in December 2017, and China and Russia vetoed the resolution in response to the US-led imposition of new sanctions over the May 2022 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The Security Council established a panel of experts to investigate sanctions through the Sanctions Monitoring Committee, and its mandate was extended for 14 years until the 28th.
Regarding the expert panel report, AP reported on February 11, “We are investigating 58 cases of suspected North Korean cyber attacks worth approximately $3 billion from 2017 to 2023.”
AP reported that the UN report said North Korea "continued to defy (UN) sanctions, further developed nuclear weapons and produced fissile material, a key ingredient in weapons."
AP went on to state that the United States was “known” to have used this fund ($3 billion) to develop weapons of mass destruction, separated it to ‘South Korea’s claim.’
See <North Korea-Russia intelligence talks, North Korea-Japan summit delayed, ROK-US sanctions against North Korea, Japanese arms exports, March 28, 2024>