Kazakhstan questions its citizen's role in arms supplies to N. Korea
ASTANA. May 16 (Interfax) - Reports on a Kazakh citizen's role in shipments of weapons to North Korea need to be verified, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurzhan Aitmakhanov told Interfax on Thursday.
"We have seen a media report on a Kazakh citizen's possible involvement in the violation of international sanctions against North Korea. We would like to point out that this information is unverified," he said.
Some media outlets reported some details of a report by UN experts on North Korea on Wednesday. The report also recommended that the UN Security Council impose sanctions on the newly established Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry, the Munitions Industry Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party (KWP), and the State Space Development Bureau.
The report authors also suggested that 12 individuals should also be sanctioned, including Kazakh citizen Alexander Zykov and Ukrainian citizens Yury Lunov and Ihor Karev-Popov, who are believed to be somehow involved in arms dealings related to North Korea.
"Kazakhstan has always been and remains to be committed to strict observance of nonproliferation regimes and is open to cooperation with the aim of further strengthening them," Aitmaknanov said.