UN's North Korean sanction-monitoring team shares evidence of Pyongyang-Moscow military cooperation
Published: 18 Jul. 2025, 18:23
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on July 16. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/18/ea87b319-5fd3-4d33-a3ad-d593a82d4305.jpg)
A general view shows the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on July 16. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
The Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), formed to support the implementation of international sanctions against North Korea, stated on Thursday that it shared cases of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia with United Nations (UN) member states and declared its intention to hold North Korea accountable for its violations of sanctions.
MSMT, composed of 11 countries including South Korea, the United States and Japan, shared a report detailing the violations and other sanctions violations with UN member states at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.
It also urged participation in efforts to maintain international peace and security.
The United States reaffirmed that even under the Donald Trump administration, it takes North Korea’s sanctions violations seriously, maintains the principle of complete denuclearization of the North and seeks dialogue with Pyongyang.
At the briefing, Seth Bailey, director for the Office of Korean and Mongolian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and deputy special representative for North Korea, shared detailed evidence regarding North Korea’s transfer of weapons to Russia, the transfer of military technology the other way and the training of North Korean troops within Russia.
Bailey stated that MSMT plans to continue publishing timely and fact-based reports on North Korea’s UN sanctions violations across various topics.
More than 40 UN member states participated in the briefing in addition to the 11 founding members of the MSMT, reflecting international interest in the North Korea-Russia arms transfers and other UN Security Council sanctions violations.
![Former First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, center, former United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, left, and former Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, right, attend a Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team meeting at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/18/7bd4d53b-6bd1-46ce-b9a5-3826f680c849.jpg)
Former First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, center, former United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, left, and former Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, right, attend a Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team meeting at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The MSMT was launched in October of last year to replace the panel of experts under the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea, which had monitored North Korean sanctions violations until it ceased operations in April 2024 due to a veto from Russia.
Earlier, on May 29, the MSMT released its first report detailing cases and evidence of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia that violated UN sanctions, including mutual arms transfers, the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, excessive refined petroleum supplies to the North, the dispatch of North Korean workers and North Korea-Russia financial transactions.
Pyongyang and Moscow argue that their military cooperation is a legitimate exercise of sovereign rights under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which defines individual and collective self-defense, and under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between North Korea and Russia. They criticize the MSMT as merely a political tool driven by Western interests.
Concerning the sanctions violation report, a senior U.S. official emphasized that the Trump administration, like previous administrations, takes North Korea’s violations of UN Security Council resolutions very seriously and maintains the policy direction established during Trump’s first term.
Regarding prospects for U.S.-North Korea dialogue, the senior official said that U.S. President Donald Trump has clearly and publicly expressed his willingness to engage with Pyongyang, and that although North Korea has developed a sophisticated weapons program, the continued suffering of its people gives the regime an incentive to engage with the United States.
As for whether North Korea would participate in denuclearization talks, the official said that Washington's policy is the complete denuclearization of North Korea, and that the United States will not abandon that goal, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the first topic of discussion, adding that there are many subjects to talk about.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his willingness to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but North Korea’s stance remains lukewarm.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM HYOUNG-GU [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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