South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Hwang Joon-kook said North Korea has accelerated its illicit activities to advance its nuclear and missile programs in the year since the disbandment of a UN expert panel that monitored the North’s sanctions violations.

The ambassador leveled the criticism Wednesday during a session of the UN Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York, held to discuss North Korea and nonproliferation issues. 

Hwang said North Korea’s illegal activities include exports of coal and iron ore, arms transfers, a one-point-five billion dollar crypto heist, and the deployment of workers and troops abroad.

The session, requested by South Korea, the United States, Britain, France, Denmark, Panama and Slovenia, was held to examine the North’s continued violations of Security Council resolutions, as well as sanctions, since the disbandment of the UN monitoring panel.

The expert panel was dissolved after Russia vetoed the extension of its mandate in April last year.