UN report: North Korea still pursuing nuclear, missile programs

The report, provided to CNN by a UN source, was prepared by independent experts who submit their findings every six months to the UN North Korea Sanctions Committee of the Security Council.

The report also says North Korea is defying sanctions through diplomats and others based overseas and continues to sell conventional weapons to fuel violence.

The revelation comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Singapore for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting, told reporters that he was an advocate of keeping pressure on Pyongyang as the country has yet to take any concrete steps to dismantling its nuclear program.

"I've also emphasized the importance of maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea, to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK as agreed to by chairman Kim," he said, referring to the isolated north Asian nation by it's official title (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the gathering of southeast Asian diplomats, Pompeo said he had called for "the complete shutdown of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum destined for North Korea."

Still 'a ways to go'

Even before he'd stepped off the plane in Singapore, Pompeo had been critical of Pyongyang's apparent heel-dragging.

While en route to the meeting he said that Kim's regime was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and that "we still have a ways to go" before realizing the reality of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

"Chairman Kim made a commitment to denuclearize," he told reporters Friday. "The world demanded that he do so in the UN Security Council resolutions.

"To the extent they are behaving in a manner inconsistent with that, they are in violation of one or both of the UN Security Council resolutions. We can see we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we're looking for."

Fingers pointed at Russia

Pompeo also singled out Russia, accusing it of helping Pyongyang evade United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

"We've seen reports that Russia is allowing for joint ventures with North Korean firms and granting new work permits to North Korean guest workers," he said.

"This is a serious issue and something that we will discuss with Moscow," he added.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on a Russian bank accused of helping conduct transactions for a North Korean bank.