A United Nations expert panel has confirmed that missile debris that fell in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in January was from a North Korean ballistic missile. Western countries, including the United States, South Korea, and Japan, have accused Russia of violating UN Security Council resolutions by using North Korean missiles and ammunition in Ukraine. However, Russia and North Korea have denied these allegations, claiming there is no evidence of weapons trading.
According to a report by Reuters on the 29th (local time), experts under the UN Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee reported in a confidential 32-page report after a recent research trip to Ukraine that the missile debris collected on January 2nd in Kharkiv came from a North Korean Hwasong-11 type missile series. Three investigators from the sanctions committee’s expert panel had previously conducted a research trip to Ukraine earlier this month to examine the missile debris that fell there on January 2nd.
The report stated that it “could not independently identify from where the missile was launched, nor by whom,” but added, “Information on the trajectory provided by Ukrainian authorities indicates it was launched within the territory of the Russian Federation.” It also pointed out that “if the missile were under the control of Russian forces, would probably indicate procurement by nationals of the Russian Federation,” which would be a violation of the UN Security Council’s ban on North Korean arms trading.
According to the report, the missile, known as the North Korean version of Iskander (KN-23), was first publicly tested in North Korea in 2019.
The missile used by Russia in the attack on January 2nd fell in a residential area in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has collected and analyzed the debris from this missile and concluded that it was a North Korean KN-23.
Meanwhile, the mandate for the expert panel monitoring the implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea is set to expire on the 30th. The Security Council held a meeting on the 28th of last month and voted on a resolution to extend the term of the expert panel under the North Korea Sanctions Committee. Still, Russia, a permanent member, vetoed it. The panel has assisted the Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee for the past 15 years, investigating cases of suspected sanctions violations and annually reporting on breaches of sanctions compliance. Ambassador Hwang Joon Kook of South Korea to the UN criticized Russia’s veto of the panel’s term extension, comparing it to destroying a CCTV in the act of committing a crime.