UN blacklists 27 ships, 21 firms over NoKor smuggling
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The United Nations Security Council on Friday blacklisted 27 ships, 21 companies and a businessman for helping North Korea circumvent sanctions, as the United States keeps up pressure on Pyongyang despite its recent overtures toward talks, diplomats said.
A total of 13 North Korean oil tankers and cargo vessels were banned from ports worldwide along with 12 other ships for helping Pyongyang smuggle banned commodities or supplying oil and fuel shipments, according to a UN document obtained by AFP.
Two other North Korean vessels were hit with a global assets freeze, but are not banned from port entry. Twenty-one shipping and trading firms were hit by an assets freeze. Three of them are based in Hong Kong, including Huaxin Shipping, which delivered shipments of North Korean coal to Vietnam in October.
Acting on a request from the US, it was the largest-ever package of sanctions designations on North Korea approved by a council committee, according to diplomats.
The move is part of a global crackdown on the smuggling of North Korean commodities in violation of UN sanctions resolutions, which were adopted in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The sanctions were approved as the US moved to open talks with North Korea on its nuclear drive, with a summit possible between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.
Despite the diplomatic opening, the US has made clear it will keep the pressure on Pyongyang to shift course by pressing on with sanctions.
Nikki Haley, Trump’s ambassador to the UN, on Friday welcomed the “historic sanctions package,” calling it “a clear sign that the international community is united in our efforts to keep up maximum pressure on the North Korean regime.”
“We want to thank the members of the Security Council as well as Japan and South Korea for working with us to keep up the pressure and for their commitment to implementing UN Security Council resolutions and holding violators accountable,” Haley added.