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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 18, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. AP |
The United States and 42 other countries have accused North Korea of importing more than the U.N.-permitted volume of refined petroleum, calling for a halt to deliveries until the end of the year, according to a news report, Friday.
In a complaint to the U.N. Security Council North Korea Sanctions Committee, the group said they estimate that Pyongyang imported more than 1.6 million barrels of refined petroleum via 56 illicit tanker deliveries in the first five months of the year, Reuters reported.
Under U.N. sanctions, North Korea can only import 500,000 barrels annually. The sanctions aim to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The countries asked the committee to make an official determination that North Korea had exceeded the limit and "inform member states that they must immediately cease selling, supplying, or transferring refined petroleum products to the DPRK for the remainder of the year."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
The complaint also alleged that while China and Russia collectively reported 106,094.17 barrels of refined petroleum product transfers to North Korea from January through May, "The official accounting of the DPRK's imports vastly underrepresents the volume of refined petroleum products that actually enter the DPRK."
The countries urged the committee to call on member states to exercise enhanced vigilance regarding the North's attempts to procure additional refined petroleum products and to prevent their illicit transfers at sea, Reuters said.
The U.S. and 20 other countries filed a similar complaint in June last year, but faced resistance from China and Russia, which argued that more information was needed on North Korea's imports of refined petroleum products.
The sanctions committee is made up of the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council and makes decisions by consensus.
South Korea signed on to the complaint in both cases. (Yonhap)
