Russia supplied some 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea last year

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un examine a launch pad during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Sept. 13, 2023. AP

Russia reported to the United Nations that it had supplied around 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea last year, data showed Tuesday.

According to data from the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions committee on North Korea, Russia reported to the committee that it had provided refined petroleum totaling 50,523 barrels to the North between March and December last year.

Under the UNSC Resolution 2397 adopted in 2017, member countries' shipments of refined petroleum to North Korea were capped at 500,000 barrels per year. Member states providing such items to the North should report their monthly supply to the U.N.

On the website of the committee, Russia's related data for January and February 2023 were missing. But Moscow earlier reported it had exported refined petroleum of 44,655 barrels and 10,666 barrels, respectively.

When combining those figures, Russia is believed to have supplied 105,845 barrels of refined petroleum to Pyongyang for the whole of 2023.

In December 2022, Russia resumed the provision of refined petroleum to North Korea for the first time in more than two years.

Despite deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Moscow's 2023 supply of refined petroleum still stayed far below pre-pandemic levels.

Russia reported to the U.N. that it had exported 241,114 barrels and 277,365 barrels of such a product in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

North Korea is believed to have obtained petroleum through illegal ship-to-ship transfers when it shut down its border over the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)