UN extends experts monitoring North Korea sanctions

The Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the mandate of the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea, with Russia urging its members "to correct" the negative impact of the tough measures on the lives of ordinary citizens.

Adoption of the resolution was delayed for weeks over Russia's demands that the committee address the humanitarian impact of sanctions.

Russia's deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov expressed concern after the vote to extend the experts' mandate until April 24, 2020 that sanctions are hurting ordinary North Koreans, especially "the most vulnerable members of society women and children." "We trust the committee in the immediate future will take up consideration, and will reach agreement on practical measures to correct this abnormal situation," he said.

But Britain's deputy political coordinator David Clay said North Korea and some countries "seek to blame sanctions for the humanitarian situation" when it's due to the country's policies, not sanctions.

"This includes the diversion of billions of dollars toward prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and a refusal to allow the international community to monitor aid distribution," he said.

Clay stressed that U.N. resolutions that imposed sanctions on North Korea "have been designed with exemptions intended to avoid humanitarian impacts." He said the process of humanitarian exemptions should continue to be monitored.

According to a U.N. report issued last month, an estimated 11 million people in North Korea over 43 percent of the population are undernourished and "chronic food insecurity and malnutrition is widespread."