Japan tells UN of North Korean tanker suspected of sanctions busting

Reuters

A combination of photos, released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), show what they describe as an attempt by North Korean ship Rye Song Gang 1 to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer, possibly of oil, in an effort to evade sanctions on October 19, 2017, in this pictures released in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 21, 2017.

It did not specify what goods it suspected were being transferred. The U.N. Security Council in December unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea for a recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, seeking to further limit its access to refined petroleum products and crude oil.

The ministry also said it appeared that the North Korean-flagged vessel, one of four additional vessels recently denied international port access by the United Nations for breaching sanctions, had disguised its name so that it read “Song Hae.”

“We have reported this to the U.N. and also given this information to other nations involved, including those connected to the Dominican tanker, expressing our concern,” the ministry added.

Diplomats from Dominica, a tiny Carribean island which suffered widespread damage in a hurricane in September, were not immediately available for comment.

North Korea is developing missile and nuclear technology in defiance of international condemnation amid regular threats to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea.

But tensions have eased with North Korea agreeing to take part in the Winter Olympics in the South next month.