Two charged in S’pore with supplying luxury goods to North Korea

SINGAPORE: Two men were charged in Singapore Thursday with supplying luxury goods, including jewellery and watches, to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions.

They were the latest examples of illicit trade through the global trading hub, which has been cracking down on the flow of banned goods to the nucleararmed state.

A Singaporean man is accused of having helped companies provide luxury items to North Korea on 43 occasions between 2010 and 2016, police said. Three companies linked to the man, named in local reports as 58-year-old Chong Hock Yen, have also been charged.

The second man, a North Korean named in reports as Li Hyon, is charged with abetting two companies to supply similar prohibited items, between 2014 and 2017, police said.

"Singapore takes its obligations under the United Nations Security Council Resolutions seriously and implements them fully and faithfully," said a police statement.

"We will not hesitate to take action against any individual or entity that breaches our laws and regulations."

Pyongyang has been hit with a series of United Nations sanctions aimed at forcing the hermit state to abandon its weapons programme.

But there have been several cases in recent years of companies and individuals in the city allegedly supplying banned goods. A Singapore company director was charged in July with providing a wide range of luxury goods, ranging from wines and perfumes to jewellery, to North Korea.