Seoul: North Korea continued illegal exports of coal and minerals last year in violation of United Nations sanctions, with coal exports reaching 1.5 million tons, a lawmaker said Sunday, citing South Korea's spy agency. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) assessed that North Korea's imports of refined oil from China and Russia in 2025 also exceeded seven times the 500,000-barrel cap set by the U.N., according to Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the main opposition People Power Party.
According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korea has been exporting minerals, such as coal and iron ore, which are banned under U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions. These exports are conducted using both North Korean-flagged and foreign-flagged cargo vessels from China, Russia, and third countries, along with smuggling refined petroleum products. Rep. Yu noted that North Korea's coal exports were estimated at around 1.5 million tons and suggested that the country has been falsely labeling the coal as Russian to increase exports to China and third countries.
U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from exporting coal and other minerals that could provide revenue for the regime's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development. Despite the worsening sanctions violations, no new unilateral sanctions have been imposed against North Korea since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration last June, based on data submitted by the foreign ministry.
The spy agency also assessed that Pyongyang continues to purchase oil from Russia, in addition to China, amid deepening ties with Moscow. Between September 2023 and April this year, North Korea supplied large quantities of artillery shells and hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, in exchange for military technologies related to drones and missiles, according to the NIS assessment.