North Korea Bought $640 Million in Luxury Goods From China in 2017, South Korea Lawmaker Says

People watch a television news reporting a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea held in Pyongyang and showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) and China's Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Li Zhanshu (L), at a railway station in Seoul on Sept. 9, 2018. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

SEOUL, South Korea—North Korea imported at least $640 million worth of luxury goods from China last year, in defiance of U.N. sanctions that outlaw such trade because of North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions, a South Korean lawmaker said on Oct. 22.

The United States has urged strict implementation of sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign that Washington has credited with bringing impoverished North Korea to the negotiating table.