United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security CouncilReuters

The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously condemned North Korea for its "irresponsible and provocative" attempts to evade sanctions, AFP reported.

The council agreed during a closed-door meeting on "the importance of full compliance" with sanctions resolutions, said Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the council president.

The remarks were endorsed by China, North Korea’s sole ally, followed a report by a UN panel of experts that showed North Korea was flouting sanctions by resorting to middlemen and front companies abroad.

The report, obtained by AFP on Friday, concluded that North Korea was using "increasingly sophisticated" ways to circumvent trade bans and banking restrictions imposed in UN sanctions resolutions.

It cited the case of a Malaysia-based front company that sold North Korean-made military communications equipment to Eritrea, with suppliers in China and an office in Singapore.

North Korean companies and banks blacklisted by the United Nations are continuing to operate "by using agents who are highly experienced and well-trained in moving money, people and goods, including arms and materiel, across borders," the report said, according to AFP.

North Korea has repeatedly provoked the West by test firing missiles in violations of six sets of sanctions imposed on it by the UN.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang announced it had successfully tested a new missile.

The test came a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). State media later said such a launch could come “at any time”.

Following the last missile test, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea and said the test-firing was a "grave violation" of UN resolutions and threatening "further significant measures."