US claims satellites spot oil sale via ships

NORTH KOREA: American reconnaissance satellites have reportedly spotted Chinese ships breaking international embargoes to sell oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October. South Korean officials told the

newspaper that the ships were allegedly trading in the West Sea between China and South Korea in a bid to bypass UN sanctions on the pariah regime over its ongoing nuclear and weapons programme.

‘‘The illicit trade started after a UN security council resolution in September drastically capped North Korea’s imports of refined petroleum products,’’ an unnamed source told the South Korean newspaper.

The US treasury published surveillance photographs reportedly taken on October 19 of Rye Song Gang 1, a North Korean vessel, lashed to a large Chinese vessel in deep waters, apparently showing hoses transferring oil. Ship-to-ship trade with North Korea is forbidden under UN rules, but very hard to patrol without an aggressive Chinese crackdown on smuggling.

Robert Kelly, professor of political science at South Korea’s Pusan National University, said: ‘‘There is a lot of under-the-radar on the Chinese side. Beijing does not police the border strictly or enforce the sanctions toughly.’’

There was no immediate response from Beijing, although a foreign ministry spokesman earlier this week claimed that China ‘‘fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced UN resolutions on North Korea’’. Under tightened sanctions agreed by the UN last Friday, the North Korean regime is now only allowed 500,000 barrels of oil imports a year.

The new restrictions, in response to Pyongyang’s November 29 test launch of a missile, also mean that all North Koreans working abroad must return home within 24 months, cutting off a vital source of foreign currency.