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The North Korean petroleum tanker Ansan 1 was captured illegally transporting petroleum products in international waters in the East China Sea on June 29. (provided by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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Trump admin’s stance of not lifting sanctions without denuclearization
The US government submitted a report to the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee claiming North Korea is using illegal means to skirt UNSC resolutions to import petroleum products. In the document, the US asked the committee to notify UN member countries that exports of petroleum products to North Korea are banned through the end of the year.
The report submitted to the North Korea sanctions committee on July 12 by the US mission to the UN claims that on at least 89 occasions between January and May of this year, North Korea acquired petroleum products through illegal ship-to-ship transfers in international waters and other means. UNSC Resolution 2397, adopted in Dec. 2017 amid nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, reduced the total allowable supplies of petroleum products to North Korea to 500,000 barrels from 2 million.
The US government also provided photographic evidence showing North Korea receiving petroleum products through illegal ship-to-ship transfers, adding that the total amount of products illegally imported in this way appeared to have already passed the annual limit of 500,000 barrels imposed by the sanctions. If the US’s claims are accepted as true, countries will no longer be able to officially export petroleum products to North Korea for the rest of the year.
As an example, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced on July 4 that the vessel Sendai with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s 14th Escort Flotilla confirmed the North Korean petroleum tanker Ansan 1 to have received something on June 29 from another unidentified vessel in international waters in the East China Sea (approximately 350 km southeast of Shanghai). The ministry’s home page shows nine similar instances confirmed by JMSDF between January and late June of this year.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that while Washington is engaged in dialogue with Pyongyang to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, economic sanctions cannot be lifted until the North denuclearizes. But countries like China and Russia have maintained that sanctions should be reduced now that North Korea-US dialogue has begun. The report from the US government is being interpreted as a reiteration of the Trump administration’s policy of not lifting sanctions without denuclearization.
Trump has voiced particular wariness of China using the North Korea “variable” to gain concessions from the US in the two sides’ trade war, which began in earnest on July 6. In a Twitter message on July 9, he wrote, “I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!”
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
