It looks like the Russian cargo ship suspected of sanctions violations was able to drop off its cargo somewhere before being investigated or this was all one big misunderstanding:
This graphic image shows the Sevastopol, a Russian ship banned from leaving a South Korean port under a U.N. sanctions resolution. (Yonhap)
South Korea on Tuesday lifted a ban on the departure of a blacklisted Russian ship that it seized last week in the southern port city of Busan, following an investigation, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.
The Sevastopol was barred from leaving the country on Sept. 28 under a U.N. sanctions resolution after entering the country’s biggest port for repairs on Aug. 13, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We have lifted the ban on the vessel as in our probe we didn’t found any violations committed by the ship. The cargo ship is now allowed to leave (South Korea) any time,” ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said over the phone.
The ministry said that “putting on hold” the ship’s departure is different from its detainment, which is a measure taken in cases where a vessel is confirmed to have engaged in illicit activities, such as any violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. [Yonhap]
I would not be surprised if US authorities walked ROK authorities down to the dock to force them to take action:
South Korean authorities have seized a Russian-flagged ship and its crew in Busan on suspicion they are violating U.S. sanctions on North Korea, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
The seizure came after concern about the Seoul’s lax enforcement of international economic sanctions on North Korea amid improving inter-Korean relations.
It is still uncertain whether the seizure was an independent decision by South Korea or a request from the U.S. [Korea Times]
This report makes me wonder if there is a arms for petroleum agreement going on between North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China?:
North Korea has reportedly sold arms and military equipment to Middle East countries in violation of the United Nations sanctions.
The Wall Street Journal issued the report on Saturday citing a secret report by experts monitoring UN sanctions against the regime.
The UN experts said in the report that they found new evidence of the North’s arms smuggling and illegal financial transactions.
The panel said that the evidence showed North Korea sold tanks, ballistic missiles and rocket-propelled grenades to Yemen’s Houthi insurgents and other entities via a Syrian arms smuggler.
The UN report said that North Korean arms experts had visited a munitions factory in Syria multiple times. It added that the North’s imports of petroleum products surged on the routes involving Russian and Chinese vessels. [KBS World Radio]
Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, head of the Russian Federation Council, leaves Pyongyang on Sept. 10, 2018, after attending North Korea’s founding day celebration a day earlier in this photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency. The media outlet released a series of photos showing foreign guests leaving after attending the ceremony. (Yonhap)
While the Moon administration continues to play nice with North Korea, the Trump administration continues to add new sanctions over the Kim regime’s nuclear program:
This AP file photo shows U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Yonhap)
The United States on Thursday sanctioned two companies in China and Russia for allegedly facilitating North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The Department of the Treasury also sanctioned a North Korean individual in the latest set of sanctions aimed at denuclearizing the regime.
Thursday’s action particularly targets the revenue earned for the Pyongyang government by North Korean IT workers overseas.
The Treasury said it is sanctioning China Silver Star, which is “nominally a Chinese IT company, but in reality … managed and controlled by North Koreans.”
Also being sanctioned is the firm’s CEO, Jong Song-hwa, and its Russia-based front company, Volasys Silver Star.
“These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but it appears that the Trump administration is not ready to sign up for “pretend denuclearization“.
The US Treasury Department is continuing to go after companies that violate sanctions against North Korea:
The United States imposed sanctions on a Russian port service agency and Chinese firms for aiding North Korean ships and selling alcohol and tobacco to Pyongyang in breach of U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury said in a statement on Wednesday that China-based Dalian Sun Moon Star International Logistics Trading Co. Ltd and its Singapore-based affiliate SINSMS Pte. Ltd had netted more than $1 billion a year by exporting alcohol and cigarette products to North Korea.
The department also sanctioned Russian-based Profinet Pte Ltd and its director general, Vasili Aleksandrovich Kolchanov, for providing port services on at least six occasions to North Korean-flagged ships.
Kolchanov was personally involved in North Korea-related deals and interacted directly with North Korean representatives in Russia, the department said.
“The tactics that these entities based in China, Singapore, and Russia are using to attempt to evade sanctions are prohibited under U.S. law, and all facets of the shipping industry have a responsibility to abide by them or expose themselves to serious risks,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. [Reuters]
Here we go with yet another report of the Russians violating UN sanctions:
FILE – Piles of coal are seen in the Astafyev Cape area of the far eastern port of Nakhodka, Russia Sept. 5, 2017.
Russia engaged in more extensive oil exports to North Korea than had been previously reported, by setting up an illicit trade network that is likely still being used today to evade United Nations sanctions, according a South Korean research organization.
A recent report issued by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul used Russian customs data to document how “one North Korean state enterprise purchased 622,878 tons of Russian oil worth $238 million,” between 2015 and 2017.”
While China is North Korea’s main oil supplier, the ASAN estimate for Russian oil exports to North Korea is significantly higher than the $25 million in sales for the same period that was reported by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in Seoul.
“Smuggling has always been an important element in the cross-border trade between North Korea and it’s important allies. What the Chinese government and the Russian government to a lesser extent have been doing is to turn a blind eye to these activities,” said Go Myong-Hyun, a North Korea analyst with the Asan Institute For Policy Studies in Seoul. [Voice of America]
You can read much more of how Russia is aiding North Korea’s efforts to get around UN sanctions at the link.
The Moon administration is now playing defense over the reports of ships carrying North Korean coal being allowed to dock in South Korea:
A Belize-flagged ship, the Jin Long, is docked at a port in Pohang, on South Korea’s east coast, on Aug. 7, 2018. (Yonhap)
The South Korean government on Tuesday dismissed a report that another foreign vessel carrying North Korean coal has entered a southeastern port in the country, potentially in breach of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
VOA, a U.S.-based broadcaster, reported earlier that a Belize-flagged ship, the Jin Long, docked at South Korea’s southeastern port of Pohang on the weekend and is still believed to be at the port. It cited the MarineTraffic vessel locating service.
The ship had been spotted at the Russian port of Nakhodka, along with black materials believed to be North Korean coal, days before arriving in Pohang, it added.
Rep. Yoo Ki-june, a South Korean opposition lawmaker, also said the freighter suspected of carrying 5,100 tons of North Korean coal is anchored at the Pohang port.
South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed the entry of the ship itself but said it’s carrying Russian coal.
“There has been no confirmation of a violation of the (U.N.) Security Council resolution in an inspection of the ship by related authorities,” the ministry’s spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said at a press briefing. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but of course the documents are going to say it is “Russian coal”. These would not be very good smugglers if they are advertising they are shipping North Korean coal. What are the intelligence agencies saying that it is because they have the assets to determine where the coal actually came from.
I wonder how long before the Chinese reverse engineer the S-400? Even more worrisome is if this system or a Chinese knockoff ends up in North Korea in the future:
Russia’s S-400
Russia’s TASS news agency and a Hong Kong daily report that China could test fire a new Russian missile defense system in the coming days.
The South China Morning Post said Saturday that China could put the defense system, which is capable of downing U.S. F-35 stealth fighters, through its paces within a few days.
The report says the Chinese army has already been trained in the use of the S-400 Triumph in Russia.
The S-400 Triumph, which was delivered just last week, is a surface-to-air missile system designed to complement China’s home-grown defense capabilities.
With a range of 24-hundred kilometers, the S-400 can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously with as many as 72 missiles at altitudes of between five meters and 30 kilometers.
The South China Morning Post said the U.S. has had F-35s at its own and allies’ military bases in the Asia-Pacific region since October and this deployment pushed China into bringing its first stealth fighter, the J-20, into service ahead of schedule in February.
Some pundits say the S-400 deployed on the Shandong Peninsula, which is near Korea, will pose a major threat to the combat power of South Korea and U.S. Forces Korea. [KBS World Radio]
No surprises here since I would not be surprised that the Chinese and Russian operatives are actively helping them smuggle the oil:
China and Russia have reportedly put the brakes on the United States for trying to persuade the international community to stop selling refined oil to North Korea this year.
According to international news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, Beijing and Moscow on Thursday blocked Washington from getting the United Nations to publicly blame the North for smuggling more petroleum products beyond the limit imposed by UN sanctions.
Their actions and claim that time is needed to investigate the U.S. allegations automatically delay any U.S. action for six months.
Last week, the U.S. requested the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee to publicly rebuke the North for violating the quota and enact a ban so countries could not export more petroleum products to the regime for the rest of the year.
U.S. documents sent to the UN committee claim that refined oil was illegally shipped to North Korea through at least 20 ships on 89 occasions between January and May, allowing the regime to secure at least 759-thousand-793 barrels so far this year, above the annual limit of 500-thousand barrels. [KBS World Radio]
