South Korea, U.S. launch task force to choke off North's nuclear program
Lee Jun-il, right, South Korea's deputy nuclear envoy, and U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Lyn Debevoise pose for a photo before the inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. bilateral Enhanced Disruption Task Force in Washington on Tuesday.
South Korea and the United States launched a bilateral task force to more effectively block key resources and funding for North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, the Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday.
The inaugural meeting of the bilateral Enhanced Disruption Task Force kicked off in Washington on Tuesday with over 30 officials in related areas of diplomacy, intelligence, sanctions and maritime interdiction, according to the Foreign Ministry. U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Lyn Debevoise and the Foreign Ministry's Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Lee Jun-il participated in the meeting.
At the meeting, the two sides evaluated the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea in the maritime sector and discussed in detail ways to cooperate to counter illicit efforts by the Kim Jong-un regime to circumvent sanctions on refined petroleum.
Petroleum is essential for North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and military readiness. The international community limited the amount of oil imported to North Korea to 4 million barrels of crude oil and 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum through UN Security Council Resolution 2397 in 2017. However, Pyongyang continues to evade sanctions by using various methods and illegal transshipment networks, according to the annual report of the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee on North Korea.
North Korea imported more than 1.5 million barrels of refined petroleum between January and September last year, according to a Sanctions Committee report released on March 21.
“Through Enhanced Disruption Task Force, the United States and ROK are pursuing a wide range of joint actions to disrupt DPRK refined oil procurement networks, including by exposing DPRK sanctions evasion activities, reviewing options for autonomous sanctions designations, and engaging private sector and third-party actors throughout the region who facilitate — either knowingly or unwittingly — the DPRK’s oil procurement networks,” said the U.S. State Department in a press release.
ROK is the acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea, while DPRK is for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Both sides additionally expressed concern over the possibility that Russia could further provide refined petroleum to North Korea due to the close military relationship developing between the two countries. South Korea and the United States discussed ways to stop illegal cooperation between Russia and the North, with both allies strongly urging Russia to implement the UNSC resolutions thoroughly.
The two sides also decided to hold a second meeting of the Enhanced Disruption Task Force in Seoul at an appropriate time within the year. Various measures to block illegal imports of refined petroleum into North Korea and the illicit financing of such imports will be discussed further at the second meeting, according to the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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