United Nations — North Korea has "continued to enhance" its "illicit nuclear and ballistic missile" programs, violating United Nations Security Council resolutions and evading financial sanctions as it does, according to a still-unpublished report by U.N. experts shown to CBS News.
A summary of the report was distributed to Security Council members Monday. The report has six additional sections, not yet distributed, that contain extensive information about illicit North Korean actions.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has "continued to develop infrastructure and capacity for its missile program," the report says.
Two missile engine tests conducted by North Korea in December "point to a new phase in the ballistic missile program," the experts say.
The panel of experts also concludes a submarine under construction that could potentially carry ballistic missiles "would complete a major diversification of the ballistic missile program."
The "Finance" section of the report contains what may be the most dramatic evidence yet of illegal transactions and says North Korea continues to evade financial sanctions using shell companies and "joint ventures with unsuspecting foreign companies."
According to the report, the North's tactics include bulk cash and gold smuggling and the "continued theft and use of virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin) to evade sanctions and fund global cyber attacks."
Last August, a U.N. report concluded that North Korea raised up to $2 billion by skirting U.N. sanctions.
The U.N. experts point out that after February 2019, 'No progress was reported in the diplomatic sphere and, citing this, Pyongyang announced at the end of the year that it saw no reason to continue its self-declared moratorium on ICBM launches."
Although the end of year deadline set by North Korea's Kim Jong Un to restart nuclear talks with Washington passed with no sign of a nuclear test, negotiations with the U.S. are still stalled.
