Clandestine oil trade between North Korea and China is currently being reviewed by the United Nations Security Council's sanctions committee on North Korea, the foreign ministry in Seoul said Tuesday.

"Currently, the UNSC sanctions committee (on the North) is leading a related discussion," foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said in a press briefing.

Earlier in the day, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that U.S. reconnaissance satellites found that the two countries had engaged in illegal trading of oil by sea on about 30 occasions since October -- a sign the neighbors are circumventing UNSC resolutions that limit the supply of oil to the North.

foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk (Yonhap)
The spokesman did not disclose details of the ongoing discussion in the UN committee, but it could mean that the committee will adopt new measures to block oil trafficking between North Korea and China.

The spokesman stressed the importance of China's implementation of UNSC sanctions. "China has been underlining its stance of faithfully implementing related UNSC resolutions under the principle of not tolerating North Korean nuclear (weapons) and of seeking a peaceful resolution of the issue," he said.

He also said South Korea will continue to increase its communications with China so that the latter can expand its role in solving the issue. (Yonhap)