U.N. blacklists dozens of ships, businesses over North Korea smuggling

Agence France-Presse

The U.N. Security Council on March 30, 2018, blacklisted 27 ships, 21 companies and a businessman for helping North Korea circumvent sanctions, as the United States keeps up pressure on Pyongyang despite its recent overtures toward talks, diplomats said.

Acting on a request from the United States, it was the largest-ever package of sanctions designations on North Korea approved by a council committee, diplomats said.

The move is part of a global crackdown on the smuggling of North Korean commodities in violation of U.N. sanctions, which were adopted in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The sanctions were approved as the United States moves to open talks with North Korea on its nuclear drive, with a summit possible between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un by the end of May.

Despite the diplomatic opening, the United States has made clear it will keep the pressure on Pyongyang to shift course by pressing on with sanctions.

Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, welcomed the “historic sanctions package,” calling it “a clear sign that the international community is united in our efforts to keep up maximum pressure on the North Korean regime.”

“We want to thank the members of the Security Council, as well as Japan and South Korea, for working with us to keep up the pressure and for their commitment to implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions and holding violators accountable,” Haley added. (Pictured: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a Security Council meeting in March 2018.)

A total of 13 North Korean oil tankers and cargo vessels were banned from ports worldwide along with 12 other ships for helping Pyongyang smuggle banned commodities or supplying oil and fuel shipments, according to a U.N. document obtained by Agence France-Presse.

Two other North Korean vessels were hit with a global asset freeze but are not banned from port entry.

Twenty-one shipping and trading firms were hit by an assets freeze. Three of them are based in Hong Kong, including Huaxin Shipping, which delivered shipments of North Korean coal to Vietnam in October 2017.

Twelve North Korean firms were blacklisted for running ships involved in illegal transfers of oil and fuel, according to the document.

Two other companies — Shanghai Dongfeng Shipping and Weihai World Shipping Freight, also based in China — were blacklisted for carrying North Korean coal on their vessels.

The remaining firms are based in Singapore, Samoa, the Marshall Islands and Panama.