UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The mandate for a UN Panel of Experts charged with monitoring sanctions against North Korea has been extended until April 2017 to report on the effectiveness of the latest package of restrictions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile tests, the UN Security Council announced in a press release on Thursday.
On March 2, the Security Council adopted the toughest in a series of sanctions against North Korea during the past decade. The latest restrictions make all cargo going to and from the country subject to inspection and limit or prohibit the nation's export of coal, iron, gold, titanium and rare natural minerals.
The resolution also bans conventional arms sales as well as the delivery of aviation and rocket fuel to North Korea.
The latest sanctions were approved in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon test in January, which the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed is a hydrogen bomb as well as its launch of a long range missile in February, in violation of earlier UN resolutions.