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00:00 South Korea on Friday slammed Russia for what it called an irresponsible decision
00:05 to unilaterally end UN monitoring of international sanctions on North Korea.
00:10 Russia's veto will shield North Korea's illegal actions. It blocks the international community's
00:18 eyes and ears, ending an expert panel that has faithfully monitored North Korea's sanctions
00:23 violations, including its nuclear and missile development and its arms exports to Russia.
00:28 Indeed, Russia's Security Council veto comes just weeks after the panel said it was investigating
00:37 reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.
00:40 Russia has been accused of using ballistic missiles and other weapons sourced from North
00:46 Korea in its continued invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has been under mounting sanctions
00:53 since 2006, put in place in response to its nuclear program. Since 2019, Russia and China
01:00 have tried to persuade the Security Council to ease the sanctions, which have no expiration
01:06 date. Russia has said the sanctions have been ineffective and worsened the humanitarian
01:12 situation in North Korea.
01:15 The sanction regime adopted by the Security Council with the noble intentions of preventing
01:20 the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region is not just losing its relevance, but
01:25 is also greatly detached from reality.
01:30 This is not the first time Russia has used its veto to potentially shield itself from
01:34 investigation. In August, Russia ended the mandate of a group of UN experts on Mali who
01:41 suggested that Moscow-linked mercenaries were involved in widespread abuses, including the
01:47 massacre of at least 500 people in 2022.