South Korea has sanctioned a Hong Kong shipping firm, HK Yilin Shipping, and a North Korean vessel over allegations of the illegal transfer of North Korean coal.
Yilin Shipping’s 6,700 dwt general cargo vessel De Yi took on coal from a North Korean vessel, Tok Song, in March off North Korea’s coast in a ship-to-ship transfer violating two UN Security Council resolutions imposed over Pyongyang’s illegal weapons programs, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.
The move which will enter into force on Friday, follows the vessel’s seizure at the request of US authorities in waters off Yeosu earlier this year, just days after Seoul slapped sanctions on two Russian ships, which had been implicated in suspected arms transfers between North Korea and Russia.
The De Yi was caught carrying North Korean coal to Vladivostok, Russia a day after Moscow used its veto power to effectively end official UN monitoring of sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea has been under various UN resolutions since 2006 due to its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons activities and is banned from exporting coal, iron ore, and other mineral resources.
