Backed by China, the UN Security Council on Monday unanimously condemned North Korea for its "irresponsible and provocative" attempts to evade sanctions. 


The council agreed during a closed-door meeting on "the importance of full compliance" with sanctions resolutions, said Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the council president. 


The remarks endorsed by China, Pyongyang's sole ally, followed a report by the UN panel of experts that showed North Korea was flouting sanctions by resorting to middlemen and front companies abroad. 


The report, obtained by AFP on Friday, concluded that North Korea was using "increasingly sophisticated" ways to circumvent trade bans and banking restrictions imposed in UN sanctions resolutions. 


It cited the case of a Malaysia-based front company that sold North Korean-made military communications equipment to Eritrea, with suppliers in China and an office in Singapore. 


The company, known as Glocom, is operated by Pyongyang's intelligence agency, according to the report. 


North Korean companies and banks blacklisted by the United Nations are continuing to operate "by using agents who are highly experienced and well-trained in moving money, people and goods, including arms and materiel, across borders," the report said. 


The Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on North Korea -- two of which were adopted last year to significantly ramp up measures and deny Kim Jong-Un's regime hard currency revenue. 


China, Pyongyang's main trading partner, has suspended all imports of coal from North Korea for the remainder of the year to shore up its compliance with the sanctions resolution. 


The report however said that implementation of the sanctions by UN member-states "remains insufficient and highly inconsistent." 


The European Union on Monday moved to tighten sanctions, imposing fresh restrictions on trade in coal, iron and iron ore, and banning imports of copper, nickel, silver and zinc from North Korea

Source: NNA