N.Korea denounces monitoring team's report as 'political provocation'
Last Thursday, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team released its report for the first time.
The team was created after a UN Security Council panel of experts tasked with monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the North ceased its activities last year. Russia used its veto to block the panel's activities.
Japan, the United States and South Korea are among the countries that formed the 11-nation team.
The North Korean foreign ministry on Monday issued a statement from the chief of its External Policy Office saying the report is trying to obstruct the cooperative relations between North Korea and Russia.
The statement commented on military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow described in the report. It said it is a legitimate exercise of a sovereign right based on a comprehensive strategic partnership, which requires mutual military assistance in the case of an armed attack against either country.
The statement stressed that North Korea has the right to take strong countermeasures to defend its interests from any encroachment on its sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs.
The monitoring team reported that North Korea unlawfully transferred ballistic missiles to Russia last year in violation of UN resolutions.
The report says Russia is believed to have provided the North with air defense systems and advanced electronic warfare systems, including jamming equipment.
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