A North Korean buyer purchased a helicopter from a Russian vendor in March 2019, according to U.S. court documents cited in a new U.N. report, cargo that would have likely breached multiple international sanctions if delivered.

Sim Hyon Sop, a sanctioned North Korean representative of the Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation, allegedly worked with a group of Chinese nationals and companies acting as middlemen for the DPRK to procure the helicopter, transaction details in the U.S. court documents from Nov. 2022  reveal.