According
to a UN report, North Korea continued its nuclear and ballistic missile
development programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of
international sanctions.

The
development continued despite the country’s worsening economic situation,
Reuters reported.

The report
was submitted by a panel of independent sanctions monitors reporting to the UN
Security Council North Korea sanctions committee. The report concluded that
Pyongyang “continued to seek material and technology for these programs
overseas.”

“Despite
the country’s focus on its worsening economic travails, the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea continued to maintain and develop its nuclear and ballistic
missile programs,” the sanctions monitors said, according to Reuters.

North
Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately comment
on the UN report.

North Korea
had imposed a strict lockdown last year amid the coronavirus pandemic that has
slashed its trade and aid access, hurting an economy already burdened by
international sanctions.

In June, the
country’s leader Kim Jong Un said the nation faced a “tense” food
situation and much would depend on this year’s harvests.

“Statements
made by DPRK suggested a deepening humanitarian crisis in the country, although
the COVID-19 blockade means that the relative impact of sanctions on the
humanitarian situation has probably decreased. With trade all but stopped by
the blockade, and last year’s harvest badly affected by floods, the current
prospects of the wider DPRK population are poor,” the UN monitors wrote in
their report, according to Reuters.

North Korea
has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile
programs. The Security Council has steadily strengthened sanctions in a bid to
cut off funding for the programs.