(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan launch multilateral mechanism to monitor N. Korean sanctions after Russia’s U.N. panel veto

South Korea, the United States and Japan will establish a new joint mechanism with partner countries to monitor U.N. sanctions on North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday, after Russia's veto ended the mandate of the U.N. monitoring panel. The launch of the multilateral sanctions monitoring team (MSMT) came about seven months after Russia vetoed a resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts that monitors the implementation of North Korean sanctions by U.N. member states. The panel was terminated April 30. Seoul has since been working with the U.S. and other like-minded countries on ways to continue the sanctions monitoring, including creating a framework outside of the U.N. system. Eight other countries will participate alongside South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in the MSMT: France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "We underscore our shared determination to fully implement relevant U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions regarding t he DPRK, reaffirm that the path to dialogue remains open, and call on all states to join global efforts to maintain international peace and security in the face of the ongoing threats from the DPRK," the statement said. DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (From L to R) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano announce the launch of a new joint mechanism to monitor sanctions against North Korea, at the foreign ministry in Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2024. (Yonhap) (From L to R) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano announce the launch of a new joint mechanism to monitor sanctions against North Korea, at the foreign ministry in Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2024. (Yonhap) The MSMT will retain much of the U.N. structure to monitor and report violations and evasions of the sanctions measures stipulated in the relevant UNSC resolutions, and to ensure the full implementation of the sanctions on North Korea, the joint statement read. The MSMT will publish reports on sanctions violations and evasions attempts. "Our preference would have been to continue the previous (UNSC) regime," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said in a joint press conference in Seoul announcing the MSMT launch. "That avenue was prevented by Russian intransigence, so this is the approach that we've taken." "This grouping of nations that are animated by common purpose have the potential to actually surpass some of the work and reporting that was done previously," Campbell said. Campbell was joined by his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, along with the ambassadors of the six participating nations to Seoul. First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun said South Korea will continue to work with the partner countries to restore the monitoring system under the U.N. wing. "We have taken that into account and will continue to do so," Kim said. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (5th from L), First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun (C) and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano (7th from L) pose for a photo with the ambassadors of the six participating countries in a multilateral sanctions monitoring team as they announced its launch in a press conference at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Oct. 16, 2024. (Yonhap) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (5th from L), First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun (C) and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano (7th from L) pose for a photo with the ambassadors of the six participating countries in a multilateral sanctions monitoring team as they announced its launch in a press conference at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Oct. 16, 2024. (Yonhap) The MSMT is a product of the "shared understanding of the need to sustain the North Korean sanctions monitoring system, given that the North has continued to vio late the sanctions by advancing its nuclear and missile programs and increasing arms exports," a foreign ministry official said. South Korea also expects that the new mechanism will help overcome the "limitations" experienced by the U.N. panel, and be "free from the power dynamics" within the UNSC that had constrained the panel's activities, the official added. The U.N. panel on monitoring North Korean sanctions had been extended every year since its launch in 2009 under UNSC Resolution 1874 adopted in the wake of the North's second nuclear test in May of the same year. But in late March this year, Russia used its veto to block the renewal of the panel's mandate, in what was seen as an act of alignment with the North amid their deepening military and other ties. Russia is one of the five permanent UNSC member states, along with the U.S., Britain, France and China. China abstained from the vote for the panel mandate. North Korea is banned under multiple UNSC resolutions from trading goods or materials tha t could support its nuclear and missile programs. However, it has long been suspected of illegally procuring prohibited items through ship-to-ship transfers and other methods, allegedly with tacit approval from China and Russia. Source: Yonhap News Agency