Category: United Nations

It is pretty clear that improving the human rights for North Koreans is not a concern for the Moon Jae-in administration:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is likely to have asked for Ojea Quintana, the United Nations’ special investigator on human rights in North Korea, to take a “toned-down” approach in handling North Korea’s human rights abuses.

Quintana is on a five-day trip to Seoul from Monday as he plans to meet with ranking ministerial officials including Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho and Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho.

“His visit is intended to gather relevant data on the status quo of the North’s human rights situation before the United Nations General Assembly convenes on the condition of North Korea’s human rights situation in October,” a foreign ministry official said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is another example of a foreign officer holding a significant leadership position within a US leadership structure:

A Canadian three-star Army general took office as the first non-American deputy commander of the United Nations Command (UNC) on Monday, underscoring the command’s ongoing efforts for “revitalization.”

During a change-of-responsibility ceremony, Lieut. Gen. Wayne D. Eyre assumed the mantle, which had been dominated by U.S. officers since the command’s inception in 1950 during the Korean War. He replaced Lieut. Gen. Thomas Bergeson, the current commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force.

“This (UNC) revitalization is an important move towards transforming international commitments to the Korean Peninsula security,” Eyre said during the ceremony at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. military complex in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

“I am excited to execute your intent and help shape this journey toward enduring peace and stability,” he added, referring to UNC commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, who depicted Eyre’s appointment as part of UNC “transformational” or revitalization endeavors.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

No surprises here since I would not be surprised that the Chinese and Russian operatives are actively helping them smuggle the oil:

China and Russia have reportedly put the brakes on the United States for trying to persuade the international community to stop selling refined oil to North Korea this year.

According to international news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, Beijing and Moscow on Thursday blocked Washington from getting the United Nations to publicly blame the North for smuggling more petroleum products beyond the limit imposed by UN sanctions.

Their actions and claim that time is needed to investigate the U.S. allegations automatically delay any U.S. action for six months.

Last week, the U.S. requested the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee to publicly rebuke the North for violating the quota and enact a ban so countries could not export more petroleum products to the regime for the rest of the year.

U.S. documents sent to the UN committee claim that refined oil was illegally shipped to North Korea through at least 20 ships on 89 occasions between January and May, allowing the regime to secure at least 759-thousand-793 barrels so far this year, above the annual limit of 500-thousand barrels.  [KBS World Radio]

A U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War salutes in front of the graves of deceased fellow soldiers at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 24, 2017, the 72nd United Nations Day. A total of 2,300 people are interred at the cemetery that honors U.N.-led coalition forces who fought with the South in the conflict. (Yonhap)

It was a great privilege to meet with President Moon of South Korea.
Stay tuned! 🇺🇸🇰🇷#UNGA pic.twitter.com/7xYDO5ddUm

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2017

Here is the latest on the North Korea sanctions front:

The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) has passed a new resolution aimed at preventing North Korea from exploiting loopholes in past sanctions to pursue its nuclear ambitions.

The latest sanctions, which were approved at a meeting in New York City, Wednesday, mainly target Pyongyang’s coal earnings.

Starting Jan. 1, they will restrict North Korea’s annual exports of coal, a major source of hard currency and its single largest export item, to $400 million or 7.5 million tons, whichever is lower in value.

They also newly blacklisted 10 entities and 11 individuals, many of who are suspected of helping the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID).

The KOMID sells coal and other natural resources to raise cash for the Kim Jong-un regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The 11 individuals include two former ambassadors _ Park Chul-il and Kim Sok-chol who served in Egypt and Myanmar, respectively.

Among the 10 entities are banks and trading companies, such as the Korea United Development Bank, Ilsim International Bank, Korea Daesong Bank, Korea Foreign Technical Trade Center and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link which includes a number of other sanctions the regime is hit by.

I am just wondering who from the United Nations is going to be sitting at the Chinese border to make sure the proper tonnage of coal is being imported into China?  We have already seen how China does not enforce sanctions with their continuing oil imports into North Korea.  From what I have read I have seen nothing in these latest sanctions that will change regime behavior.

Over at One Free Korea he has a very good rundown on the sanctions and explains why they are largely unenforceable and feature a number of loopholes the North Koreans are sure to exploit.

A bunch of western aid workers were beaten and gang raped and one journalist murdered by South Sudanese soldiers and the United Nations peacekeepers nearby did nothing to intervene:

About 20 minutes later, a Quick Reaction Force of Ethiopians from the multinational U.N. mission was tasked to intervene, coordinating with South Sudan’s army chief of staff, Paul Malong, who was also sending soldiers. But the Ethiopian battalion stood down, according to the timeline. Malong’s troops eventually abandoned their intervention too because it took too long for the Quick Reaction Force to act.

The American who was released early in the assault and made it to the U.N. base said he also alerted U.N. staff. At around dusk, a U.N. worker he knew requested three different battalions to send a Quick Reaction Force.

“Everyone refused to go. Ethiopia, China, and Nepal. All refused to go,” he said.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link, but why have peacekeepers if they are not going to keep the peace?  This seems to be a reoccurring problem with United Nations troops.  Considering that the ROK Army has peacekeepers in South Sudan it makes me wonder what they would do if faced with this same situation?

The real question though is why the UNICEF giving a country that can afford its own self proclaimed space program, nuclear weapons and ICBMs any money at all?  Clearly the Kim regime has the resources to care for these children, but instead diverts these resources to their weapons programs and lets UNICEF pick up the bill:

A United Nations agency almost halved its budget for medical assistance and childcare projects in North Korea, a U.S. based media outlet reported Saturday.

According to the Voice of America (VOA), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has earmarked a total of US$71 million for such projects during the 2017-2021 period, sharply cut from the $120 million set up for the 2011-2015 period.

The sharp reduction in the budget for North Korea-related humanitarian projects came as a result of international sanctions against the communist state.  [Yonhap]