UN: Trade sanctions bite North Korea, but arms embargo stings less

Nov 19, 2009, 17:12 GMT

New York - The UN Security Council's trade sanctions against North Korea inflicted a sharp drop in business, but the country appeared to have eluded the arms embargo because of its sophisticated international network, a sanctions panel said Thursday.

The council imposed sanctions on trade and travel, a freeze of assets and an arms embargo in 2006 when North Korea exploded its first nuclear device. It strengthened the measures this year after Pyongyang exploded a second nuclear bomb in May.

The panel said North Korea is currently running an annual trade deficit in excess of 1 billion dollars and the deficit may have 'increased substantially' with the 2009 sanctions.

North Korea has had trade ties with about 80 countries, but bilateral trade dropped sharply after the 2006 sanctions. The panel, which relied on IMF statistics, said Pyongyang's trade exports amounted to between 1.2 billion and 5 billion dollars each year, but exports are now suffering a deficit.

North Korea's arms exports had been its primary source of foreign exchange, relying on a well-established and 'highly sophisticated international network for the acquisition, marketing and sale of arms and military equipment.'

The panel admitted the lack of official statistics on Pyongyang's arms exports made an accurate assessment difficult. It said the UN Commodity Trade Database showed transactions of only 5.3 million dollars in small arms and light weapons from North Korea to other countries between 2001 and 2008.

Other sources put the values of Pyongyang's arms exports at 100 million dollars during the same period. Recipient countries are those in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, the panel said.

The UN council has imposed a comprehensive arms embargo to include all arms and related material, as well as financial transactions, technical training and services or assistance to North Korea.

The council also authorized interdiction of ships to and from North Korea, and the panel said a number of inspections had been carried out by UN members which reported back to the panel. In one case, the North Korean ship Kang Nam 1, suspected of carrying banned weapons, was refused entry into a port in Southeast Asia and was forced to return home.

The panel issued a call to UN members to continue to cooperate and provide information about their implementation of sanctions against North Korea.