South Korean companies violating sanctions by allegedly importing North Korean coal

The Globe and Mail ^ | Aug 2018 | Chloe Sang-Hun

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More than 33,000 tons of North Korean coal was illegally imported to South Korea last year in violation of United Nations and other sanctions, the South Korean government said Friday.

A government customs agency, the Korea Customs Service, asked prosecutors to indict the heads of three South Korean companies that transport coal. It said the companies imported the North Korean coal, totaling $5.8 million in value, between April and October of last year, and it accused them of falsifying documents to indicate that the coal was of Russian origin.

The owners of 14 ships involved in transporting the coal from North Korea to ports in the Russian Far East, and from there to South Korea, could also face penalties under U.N. sanctions, South Korean officials said. It was unclear whether the owners of the ships that loaded the coal in Russia knew it was from North Korea.

The officials identified five other shipments of coal from North Korea that they said entered South Korea in a similar way between April and October of last year. They also said that more than 2,000 tons of pig iron from North Korea was imported to South Korea through Vladivostok, a Russian port near the Chinese and North Korean borders.