South Korea and the United States have launched a joint task force to prevent North Korea from accessing refined petroleum products, which the allies say are needed by Pyongyang in the production of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Washington this week hosted Seoul for the inaugural meeting of the Enhanced Disruption Task Force (EDTF). “Led by U.S. Deputy Special Representative for the DPRK Lyn Debevoise and ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Lee Jun-il, the two sides discussed how DPRK imports of refined petroleum in excess of the UN-mandated cap violate UN Security Council resolutions and support the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs”, the U.S. State Department said in a statement, using the official names of North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea).
A resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) some six years ago has capped the volumes of crude and refined oil products that each member country can export to North Korea. As part of efforts by the international community to undermine the nuclear-armed North’s weapons capacity, Resolution 2397 of December 22, 2017, set the caps at four million barrels, or 525,000 tons, per year for crude and 500,000 barrels per year for refined products.
However, according to a statement on Wednesday by the South’s Foreign Affairs Ministry citing data from the Security Council, the North took in over 1.5 million barrels of refined oil in the first nine months of 2023, “demonstrating that it continues to evade sanctions using various tactics and illicit ship-to-ship transfer networks”.
Additionally the U.S. has put in place sanctions against persons and entities engaged in export-import trade with North Korea involving any goods, services and technology, through Executive Order 13810 adopted by the Trump administration September 21, 2017.
On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions against three companies in the Marshall Islands, Singapore and Taiwan as owners of a vessel engaged in the delivery of refined oil to North Korea.
The U.S. statement on the EDTF meeting said, “The United States and ROK underscored the need for close collaboration to disrupt the DPRK’s ability to illicitly procure excess petroleum, including petroleum from Russia, as this activity directly contributes to the DPRK’s military readiness and the development of its weapons programs”.
“Through EDTF, 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”, added the statement posted on the State Department’s website.
The task force may also target the North’s “illicit overseas coal sales”, the statement said.
The South’s separate statement announcing the EDTF said, “The two sides assessed that, as many public reports have already pointed out, much of the refined oil that North Korea is smuggling is coming with illicit support of individuals and entities throughout the region”.
“Moreover, the two sides expressed concern over the possibility that Russia may provide refined oil to North Korea as their relations become closer, and discussed ways to halt such illicit cooperation”, the South added. “The two sides strongly urged Russia to faithfully implement the UNSC resolutions as it has declared that it would”.
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