Japan and South Korea have announced separate sanctions packages targeting companies, vessels or individuals allegedly involved in supplying North Korean weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, in violation of United Nations resolutions. Friday’s announcements come just days before the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China meet in Seoul for their first trilateral summit in nearly five years. The vessels were “carrying a large quantity of containers between Russia and North Korea transporting military supplies,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement. But North Korea recently bolstered ties with Moscow. Another was engaged in bringing diesel – a critical material for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development programmes – from Russia into North Korea, it added.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 24, 2024 11:41 UTC