S. Korea to beef up surveillance over smuggled N. Korea products

South Korea said Monday it plans to strengthen its surveillance over North Korean products being smuggled into the South via a third country in a bid to faithfully enforce U.N. and its unilateral sanctions.

The Unification Ministry said that it and relevant government agencies plan to hold talks on Tuesday to discuss how to prevent North Korean products from entering South Korea disguised as goods manufactured in third countries.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) slapped the toughest sanctions in decades earlier this month over the North's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February.

On March 8, South Korea announced its unilateral sanctions, including a ban on the entry of vessels into South Korea that have sailed to North Korea in the past 180 days, and tighter control on North Korean products.

Seoul's sanctions added to South Korea's existing punitive measures against the North imposed in May 2010 following the North's sinking of a South Korean warship in March of that year.

The government said it plans to hold talks over North Korean smuggled products four times a year, up from the current semi-annual meetings. (Yonhap)