North Korea shipping arms, U.N. panel says

UNITED NATIONS – North Korea continues to violate U.N. sanctions by attempting to ship arms to Syria and Myanmar and illegally importing luxury goods, according to a long-awaited report by a U.N. experts panel.

No violations involving nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or ballistic missiles were mentioned in the 74-page report to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions, published Friday.

The report also said new KN-08 ballistic missiles seen at an April military parade celebrating the centenary of founder Kim Il Sung’s birth could be fake.

The missiles were carried by a new, larger transporter that the Panel of Experts is investigating.

The Security Council imposed sanctions against North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and stepped up sanctions after its second test in 2009 to try to derail the country’s rogue nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The panel found “ample evidence” that North Korea continues to defy measures in the resolutions, citing “elaborate techniques” used in several interceptions of banned goods.

A diplomat at North Korea’s UN mission, who would not give his name, rejected the findings.

“In principle, we don’t recognize the Panel of Experts, because we reject the resolution it was founded on and have never acknowledged the group’s reports,” he said.