'Four NK coal vessels' banned from S. Korean ports

By Kim Bo-eun

The government on Saturday banned the entry of vessels suspected of having been involved in bringing in North Korean resources banned by the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), the foreign ministry said.

Subject to the entry ban are four vessels that were confirmed to have brought in North Korean coal after a UNSC sanction banning this was imposed in August last year.

Last week, Korea Customs Service (KCS) confirmed North Korean coal was brought into South Korea through Russia by fabricating the country of origin of the coal. The state-run Korea Electric Power Cooperation's subsidiary Korea South-East Power purchased the North Korean coal, but the case was not referred to the prosecution, as the KCS determined the purchases were made in ignorance of the country of origin. Even so, this raised concerns that the firm could come under secondary boycott measures by the U.S. for failing to adhere to the sanctions.

But a foreign ministry official said secondary boycott measures against the company were unlikely.

“Boycott measures are taken when a (firm) is found to repeatedly violate or evade sanctions, and proper investigations are not carried out by authorities,” he said.

The foreign ministry's belated move to ban the entry of the vessels is in response to criticism that the government did not take action against vessels that it acknowledged were suspected to have carried North Korean coal, allowing for North Korean coal to be brought into South Korea.

UNSC sanctions imposed last December state member states shall seize, inspect and freeze any vessel in their ports if there are grounds to suspect it was involved in the transport of items prohibited by resolutions.

The government said its tardiness to apply measures was due to its ongoing investigations. The investigations stretched on for more than 10 months since they were begun last October. This enabled multiple vessels to enter South Korean ports during this period.

The official also said the government shared the results of an investigation into illegally imported North Korean coal with the U.S. and the U.S. “highly evaluated” the government's investigation and measures. The results will be reported to the UNSC sanctions committee as early as this week, he added.

UNSC sanctions imposed last August ban North Korea from exporting coal, iron and other mineral resources, and U.N. member states from procuring it.

The findings by the KCS showed not only North Korean coal but also pig iron was brought into the South by fabricating the country of origin as Russia. The government agency also added it found seven illegal instances of North Korean coal and pig iron imports into South Korea, and referred three importers to the prosecution.

The three importers brought in 35,038 tons of North Korean coal and pig iron imports, worth 6.6 billion won ($5.86 million), from April to October last year.

Four of the seven instances of illegal shipments took place after the UNSC sanctions banned North Korean coal and iron from being procured.

The importers used a Russian port as a transit station and fabricated the country of origin as Russia, or falsely reported the coal as semi-coke, which does not require the submission of country-of-origin documents.