The U.N. Panel of Experts responsible for investigating North Korea sanctions violations may not include analysis on the humanitarian impact of sanctions in its forthcoming report, an advanced copy shows, amid disagreements between country representatives. 

The eight-person Panel — which includes members from the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K., France and other countries — reached a consensus on the humanitarian consequences of sanctions but could not agree on the wording of the report, according to a draft seen by NK News.

Two unnamed members objected to the header “the unintended impact of sanctions,” while two Panel members wanted the header to read “the adverse consequences of sanctions.” The Panel report does not specify who the two members are, though China and Russia have been vocal about criticizing the adverse effects of sanctions on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).

As a result, the forthcoming report states that two experts expressed regret over the “absence” of analysis on the humanitarian impact of sanctions in the DPRK. However, the advanced draft seen by NK News does include a separate portion on humanitarianism in line with past Panel reports.

In their spring 2020 report, the Panel wrote that while sanctions likely have an effect on the humanitarian situation in North Korea, “there is no reliable data that disambiguates the effects of United Nations sanctions from other factors, including unilateral sanctions regimes and domestic socioeconomic problems.” 

The Panel also mentions in its most recent report that North Korea’s border closures have negatively impacted humanitarian conditions in the country. 

FIGHT IN THE FOOTNOTES

Former panel member Aaron Arnold told NK News earlier this year that experts on the panel often butt heads depending on the great power politics of the moment.

“A reader that pays attention to the footnotes and some of the language used in the reports can easily see where these fault lines tend to occur,” Arnold said.

In 2021, Russia and China submitted a proposal to roll back some sanctions on North Korea citing humanitarian concerns. But critics told NK News at the time that the appeal may not have been genuine: Moscow and Beijing likely submitted the proposal for political aims and as a show of solidarity with Pyongyang.

The dispute among PoE members today reflects an emerging multipolar world, according to Christopher Green, an assistant professor at Leiden University. 

“It is not a matter of Moscow and Beijing supporting North Korea,” Green explained. “They are instrumentalizing the North Korean case in the U.N. to pursue their own interests, which happen to align.”

While the U.S. blocked last year’s proposal to relax sanctions, the Panel report suggests the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) should consider more sanctions exemptions in the future. 

Sanctions currently block most trade with North Korea and limit the DPRK’s oil imports, which according to some experts may impact the country’s agricultural sector. 

The Panel report says in its latest report that the DPRK faces a long-term state of worsening crisis and notes that 41% of North Koreans are undernourished while 5 million lack proper access to water. 

Edited by Arius Derr