Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
North Korea vessel suspected of illegal coal transfer in Vietnam
A screen capture from the home page of the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) that unveiled a report claiming a North Korean vessel was caught engaging in an illegal ship-to-ship transfer of coal in waters off the coast of Vietnam. Screen capture from RUSI
By Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
A North Korean vessel is suspected of engaging in an illegal coal trade in waters off the coast of Vietnam last month, according to a London-based security think tank.
The ship, the Tae Yang, was presumed to have taken part in a ship-to-ship transfer of North Korean coal worth $1.6 million (1.85 billion won), Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted Friday a report from the Royal United Services Institute as saying.
“Tae Yang could have been carrying a cargo that could be worth approximately $1.6 million,” RFA quoted the report as saying. “The case of the Tae Yang exemplifies some of the challenges authorities face in monitoring compliance with United Nations sanctions on North Korea.”
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Pyongyang bans exportation and importation of North Korean coal.
The report also said the North Korean ship attempted to fake its identity by using the information of the Mongolian chemical tanker Krysper Singa.
The USNC is intensifying pressure on the North by tightening surveillance of its illegal and secretive ship-to-ship trade activities amid Pyongyang's missile threats.
The U.N. authority views the economic sanctions as the most effective tool to press the North into nuclear disarmament.