UN experts have recommended blacklisting 14 vessels for violating sanctions against North Korea in a report that accuses the country of increasing illegal coal exports, imports of petroleum products and continuing with cyberattacks on financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to gain illicit revenue.
The 267-page report, obtained on Saturday by The Associated Press, also accused North Korea of importing luxury vehicles, watches and liquor and other sanctioned items including robotic machinery, and continuing to illegally access international banking channels “mainly by using third-party intermediaries.”
The UN Security Council has imposed increasingly tough sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including banning most of its exports and severely limiting is imports, to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The full report by the panel of experts monitoring the sanctions provides more details to the summary and some excerpts reported by AP in February. It includes photographs of ballistic missile launchers, nuclear sites and vessels recommended for blacklisting.
The panel made 39 recommendations to the council, including on the blacklisting of 14 vessels.
It said one vessel is registered in Sierra Leone and six were previously registered in the West African nation. Two are North Korean, one is Chinese, one Vietnamese, one was formerly registered in Togo, one was formerly registered in St Kitts and Nevis, and the flag of one is unknown.
The panel said the Chinese-flagged Yun Hong 8 — which it recommended for sanctions — made at least 10 calls between February and October last year at the North Korean port of Nampo and delivered refined petroleum.
It was also observed during that period receiving refined petroleum from other foreign-flagged vessels, which an unidentified UN member state said was likely for delivery to the North, the experts said.
China responded to the panel’s inquiry about the vessel by questioning “the serious lack of accuracy of the relevant information,” the report said.
A photo in the report provided by an unnamed UN member state shows multiple coal-laden DPRK-flagged vessels at anchor near Lianyungang, China, which the panel said is being used to conduct ship-to-ship coal transfers.
Despite a UN ban, the panel said North Korea’s coal exports increased last year.
The panel said an unidentified member state reported that a substantial sand-export operation from the DPRK to China has been carried out since May last year with more than 100 shipments worth at least US$22 million.
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