Sanctions against North Korea

Russia on Thursday blocked the renewal of a panel of U.N. experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea, weeks after the body said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.

In a move that has raised alarms across the international community, North Korea launched several cruise missiles from its west coast towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday morning. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea reported the missile launch, emphasizing that the details are under close analysis by intelligence authorities in both South Korea and the United States.

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mariya Gabriel, alongside 46 foreign ministers, have collectively denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) export of ballistic missiles to Russia.

They said that India and China are profiting from the sanctions

China and Russia have vetoed a US attempt to impose new UN sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches, publicly splitting the organization's Security Council for the first time since the body began imposing sanctions on Pyongyang in 2006, Reuters reported.

U.N. experts say North Korea has increased imports and exports of banned and restricted goods such as coal and petroleum products as it continues to enhance its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of sanctions.

China and Russia on Dec. 16 proposed the U.N. Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters, in a move Russia said is aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

The US has imposed a series of sanctions against North Korean financial and business networks in China and Russia in an attempt to cut revenues to fund missile and nuclear weapons development, the Associated Press reported.

North Korea defines new sanctions against it as "military actions" and as a complete blockade of economic activity, BNT reports. In a statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry, Pyongyang threatens to continue its nuclear program and create a "balance of power with the United States."

The United States has given China a draft resolution for tougher U.N. sanctions on North Korea and is hoping for a quick vote on it by the U.N. Security Council, a Western diplomat said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.