Intel says NK coal exported via Russia
SEOUL: North Korea shipped coal to Russia last year which was then delivered to South Korea and Japan in a likely violation of UN sanctions, three Western European intelligence sources said.
The UN Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal last Aug. 5 under sanctions intended to cut off an important source of the foreign currency Pyongyang needs to fund its nuclear weapon and longrange missile programmes.
But the secretive Communist state has at least three times since then shipped coal to the Russian ports of Nakhodka and Kholmsk, where it was unloaded at docks and reloaded onto ships that took it to South Korea or Japan, the sources said.
A Western shipping source said separately that some of the cargoes reached Japan and South Korea in October. A US security source also confirmed the coal trade via Russia and said it was continuing.
“Russia’s port of Nakhodka is becoming a transhipping hub for North Korean coal,” said one of the European security sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of international diplomacy around North Korea.
Russia’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent on Jan 18. Russia’s mission to the United Nations informed the Security Council sanctions committee on Nov 3 that Moscow was complying with the sanctions.
The US Treasury on Wednesday put the owner of one of the ships, the UAL Ji Bong 6, under sanctions for delivering North Korean coal to Kholmsk on Sept 5. It was unclear which companies profited from the coal shipments.
North Korean coal exports were initially capped under a 2016 Security Council resolution that required countries to report monthly imports of coal from North Korea to the council’s sanctions committee within 30 days of the end of each month.
Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia had not reported any imports of North Korea coal to the committee last year.
The sanctions committee told UN member states in November that a violation occurs when “activities or transactions proscribed by Security Council resolutions are undertaken or attempts are made to engage in proscribed transactions, whether or not the transaction has been completed”.
Asked about the shipments, Matthew Oresman, a partner with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, which advises companies on sanctions, said: “Based on these facts, there appears to be a violation of the UN Security Council resolution by the parties involved.”
“Also those involved in arranging, financing, and carrying out the shipments could likely face U.S. sanctions,” he said.
Asked about the shipments, a US State Department spokesman said: “It’s clear that Russia needs to do more. All UN member states, including Russia, are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith and we expect them all to do so.”
The independent panel of experts that reports to the Security Council on violations of sanctions was not immediately available for comment.
North Korea has refused to give up the development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the US. It has said the sanctions infringe its sovereignty and accused the United States of wanting to isolate and stifle North Korea.
An independent panel of experts reported to the Security Council on Sept 5 that North Korea had been “deliberately using indirect channels to export prohibited commodities, evading sanctions”.
The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on nine entities, 16 people and six North Korean ships it accused of helping the weapons programmes.
Two separate routes for the coal were identified by the Western security sources. The first used vessels from North Korea via Nakhodka, about 85km east of Vladivostok.
One vessel that used this route was the Palau-flagged Jian Fu which Russian port control documents show delivered 17,415 tonnes of coal after sailing from Nampo in North Korea on Aug 3 and docking at berth no. 4 run by LLC Port Livadiya in Nakhodka. It left the port on Aug 18.
The vessel had turned off its tracking transmitter from July 24 to Aug 2, when it was in open seas, according to publicly available ship tracking data. Under maritime conventions, this is acceptable practice at the discretion of the ship’s captain.
Another ship arrived at berth No. 4 on Aug 16, loaded 20,500 tonnes of coal and headed to the South Korean port of Ulsan in Aug 24, according to Russian port control documents.
A South Korean foreign ministry official said: “Our government is monitoring any sanctions-evading activities by North Korea. We’re working closely with the international community for the implementation of the sanctions.”