North Korea | Kharon Kharon

North Korea

Critical Insights

  1. The US, UN, and EU have sanctioned over 500 North Korea-related actors, with more than 50 percent of the targets representing the shipping, banking, and trading industries. China-based entities and individuals are the most sanctioned third-country actors by the US.
  2. As part of the “maximum pressure campaign” on February 23, 2018, the US sanctioned 56 shipping firms and vessels, including facilitators that exported coal from North Korea or engaged in UN-prohibited ship-to-ship transfers. North Korea’s deceptive shipping practices include physically altering vessel identification, ship-to-ship transfers, falsifying cargo and vessel documents, and disabling the automatic identification system.
  3. With the adoption of UNSCR 2375 in September 2017, “over 90% of North Korea’s publicly reported 2016 exports of $2.7 billion” were banned by the UN, including coal, textiles, iron, and seafood.