Critical Insights
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.