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SEOUL, March 27 (UPI) -- The United States and South Korea launched a task force to counter North Korea's illicit oil smuggling operations, both governments said Wednesday, as Russia appears to be helping the isolated regime circumvent U.N. sanctions. The new Enhanced Disruption Task Force held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday in Washington, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
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"The two sides discussed how DPRK imports of refined petroleum in excess of the U.N.-mandated cap violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and support the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," the statement said.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Of particular concern is the growing relationship between Russia and North Korea, which officials say has led to an exchange of weapons for oil.
The allies "underscored the need for close collaboration to disrupt the DPRK's ability to illicitly procure excess petroleum, including petroleum from Russia, as this activity directly contributes to the DPRK's military readiness and the development of its weapons programs," the State Department said.
The task force meeting included more than 30 officials from ministries and agencies covering diplomacy, intelligence, sanctions and maritime interdiction, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement.
"Oil is an essential resource for North Korea's nuclear and missile development and military posture," the ministry said.
A U.N. Security Council resolution passed in 2017 limits the amount of refined petroleum that North Korea can import to 500,000 barrels per year.
However, Pyongyang has long used illicit means to skirt the restrictions. The Security Council's Panel of Experts estimated in its annual report released last week that North Korea imported more than 1.5 million barrels of refined oil from January to September last year.
North Korea, meanwhile, has shipped around 7,000 containers of munitions to Russia since July for use in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said last week.
Shin estimated that Russia has sent more than 9,000 containers back to North Korea in return, carrying food, as well as raw materials used for producing munitions. He also suggested that Russia was providing North Korea with fuel, noting a significant uptick in military exercises since the start of the year.
An analysis of satellite imagery released Tuesday by British think tank Royal United Services Institute and the Financial Times shows further evidence of a fuel exchange, with at least five North Korean tankers traveling to collect oil products from Vostochny Port in Russia's Far East in March.
The tankers could have moved up to 125,000 barrels of refined petroleum products -- a quarter of the U.N.'s annual oil cap -- in less than three weeks, the RUSI analysis said.
The U.N.'s Panel of Experts, which monitors North Korean sanctions, is also facing an uncertain future due to resistance from Security Council members Russia and China. A vote to extend its mandate was scheduled to be held last Friday but had to be postponed due to "long, difficult, and contentious" negotiations instigated by Moscow and Beijing, who are pushing for sunset clauses in the sanctions regime, according to the independent think tank Security Council Report.
