North Korea shipped coal using a Russian route last year. Unloaded in two Moscow ports, the coal was then transported to South Korea and Japan, in a probable violation of UN sanctions. The UN Security Council banned coal exports on August 5 to cut important funds in Pyongyang, which needs to continue long-range nuclear weapons development programs.
Three occasions were contested and analyzed by Reuters: the coal, which passed through Russia from Nakhodka and kholmsk, was unloaded and then reloaded on other ships that left last October for South Korea and Japan. American sources also confirm that North Korea's coal traffic via Russia is continuous. The Russian port of Nakhodka is in fact becoming a North Korean coal hub, ”said a European security source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of international diplomacy in the North Korea dossier.
The Russian foreign ministry has not yet responded to a request for clarification from Reuters on January 18, although the representative of Russia at the United Nations has informed the Security Council that Moscow is aligned with the sanctions of November 3, in reference to the Korean coal. Two lawyers, specializing in international law and in particular on sanctions, told Reuters that the aforementioned operations are a clear example of violation of UN sanctions.
Reuters, however, could not verify whether the coal discharged in Russia is the same coal then shipped to South Korea and Japan.
Reuters could not even verify whether the shipping companies, which transported coal, knew their origin.
The United States, however, has requested to sanction the owner of one of the ships, the UAL ji Bong 6, for the case of North Korean coal brought to kholmsk, on 5 September 2017.
Russia urged "to do more" on North Korean coal exports, recalling a 2016 Security Council resolution asking countries for a monthly report on coal imports from North Korea.
Too bad that other diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that Russia had never communicated North Korea's coal imports to the UN Committee, for the whole of 2017.
The Sanctions Committee clarified that a violation occurs when "activities or transactions proscribed by the Security Council are carried out and completed".
Reuters then asked Matthew Oresman, of the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm that advises companies on sanctions: "based on the facts presented, there appears to have been a violation of the UN resolution".
An attempt was made to listen to both the United States and an independent group of international law experts who, however, declined to comment on the events. Reuters last month reported in an article that Russian tankers had supplied North Korea with fuel offshore. US President Donald Trump accused, in a January 17 interview with Reuters, that Russia is helping Pyongyang to obtain supplies in violation of sanctions.
The US Treasury, also last Wednesday, imposed sanctions on nine entities, 16 people and six North Korean ships accused, with their trafficking, of helping North Korea in the proliferation of nuclear weapons and programs.
Shipments of North Korean coal via Russia have been revealed, as mentioned, by sources of western security. Two lines of communication: the first uses ships from North Korea via Nakhodka, about 85 km (53 miles) east of the Russian city of Vladivostok.
One ship that used this route was the Palau, marked Jian fu which at the Russian port, according to the documents, shows a cargo of 17,415 tons of coal. The ship had turned off its transmitter for tracking from July 24 to August 2, when it was out at sea. Another ship on August 16, loaded 20,500 tons of coal and headed for South Korea, Ulsan port, where it docked on August 24.
The second route indicates that coal was taken via kholmsk on the Russian island Sakhalin to the north of Japan.
For related events Reuters has requested clarification from Japan, China and South Korea: no one wanted to comment on North Korean coal traffic.