North Korea continues UN sanction violation, coal exports reach 1.5 million tons in 2025: Lawmaker

North Korea continued illegal exports of coal and minerals last year in violation of United Nations sanctions, with coal exports reaching 1.5 million tons, a lawmaker said Sunday, citing South Korea's spy agency.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) assessed that North Korea's imports of refined oil from China and Russia in 2025 also exceeded seven times the 500,000-barrel cap set by the UN, according to Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the main opposition People Power Party.

"North Korea has continued to export minerals, such as coal and iron ore, which are completely banned under UN Security Council sanctions resolutions, by using both North Korean-flagged and foreign-flagged cargo vessels from China, Russia and third countries, in addition to smuggling in refined petroleum products," Rep. Yu said in a press release.

"In particular, North Korea's coal exports were estimated at around 1.5 million tons, and it is believed to have recently sought to increase exports to China and third countries by falsely labeling the coal as Russian in origin," he added.

UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from exporting coal and other minerals that could be used to generate revenue for the regime's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles

No new unilateral sanctions have been imposed against the North since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration last June despite worsening sanctions violations, the lawmaker said, citing data submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The spy agency assessed that Pyongyang is continuing to purchase oil from Russia, in addition to China, its main supply route, amid deepening ties with Moscow.

From September 2023 to April this year, North Korea supplied large quantities of artillery shells and hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, in exchange for military technologies related to drones and missiles, according to the NIS assessment.

Yonhap