According to Kyodo News, the United States, Japan and South Korea announced on the 16th that they would establish a new organization, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), to replace the UN Security Council expert group that monitors the implementation of sanctions against North Korea. In addition to the United States, Japan and South Korea, there are also France, Britain, Germany and other countries, a total of 11 countries.
In a joint statement on the establishment of the MSMT, the United States, Japan and South Korea said: “We will strictly investigate violations and evasion of sanctions and strive to fully implement sanctions.”
It is reported that the main work of MSMT is to monitor on a daily basis whether there are violations of sanctions and prepare reports.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized its significance, saying, “It fills the gap in the supervision system and is expected to lead to further strengthening (the implementation of sanctions).”
Earlier, Russia vetoed a draft resolution submitted by the United States to the Security Council to extend the mandate of the expert panel of the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee for one year. The main task of the expert panel is to monitor the implementation of sanctions against North Korea. Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Nebenzia, said that Moscow believes that the UN Security Council should have started the process of updating the sanctions regime against North Korea long ago, but Western countries are unwilling to give up their destructive and punitive logic against North Korea. Nebenzia pointed out that “the tool that caused this disastrous situation is the ‘1718’ expert panel, which is no longer competent for its direct duties” and “its work has begun to cater to Western practices.” The term of the expert panel ends on April 30.
