Mubasher: North Korea is evading United Nations (UN) sanctions by stepping up illegal ship-to-ship transfers of imported petroleum as well as raising coal exports, according to a new report by a panel of international experts to be issued to the UN Security Council within days.

Pyongyang also violated sanctions by supplying light weapons and other military equipment through foreign intermediaries to armed Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and to Libya and Sudan, the Wall Street Journal reported.

UN has imposed these sanctions to pressure North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons programme and long-range missile capabilities.