 |
|
A crane unloads coal from the ship Jin Long docked at Pohang New Port, Pier 7, in North Gyeongsang Province, on Aug. 7. After allegations that the ship transported North Korean coal, the South Korean government has announced that the coal has been identified as being from Russia. (Hankyoreh archives)
|
South Korea to submit investigation report to UNSC Sanctions Committee this week
The South Korean government imposed an entry ban on four ships suspected of having brought in North Korean coal. Findings from an investigation into the illegal imports are also expected to be reported this week to the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee on North Korea. “As of Aug. 11, four vessels used to transport embargoed items after the adoption of UNSC Resolution 2371 have been designated as subject to an entry ban,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) senior official said on Aug. 12. The four vessels subject to the ban are the Sky Angel (Panama), Rich Glory (Sierra Leone), Shining Rice (Belize), and Jin Long (Belize), which were confirmed to have transported North Korean coal into South Korea after the UNSC’s adoption of Resolution 2371 banning imports and exports of North Korean coal. The same official also said the findings of an investigation into the North Korean coal imports is to be reported to the UNSC Sanctions Committee on North Korea as early as this week. The report focuses on the same four vessels subject to the entry ban. The report will be issued “by this week at the earliest,” the official said. When asked about the US response to South Korea’s findings, the official reiterated the stated position of the State Department, saying that it “lauds” the investigation. In remarks on Aug. 9, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert described the South Korean government as “an ally and longstanding partner of ours” and said the US “closely coordinate[s] with that government.” “We trust when they say that they will investigate that they will investigate,” Nauert added. When asked about the possibility of independent US sanctions, the MOFA official reiterated Seoul’s previous position on the issue. “Our understanding is that US sanctions are typically applied in cases of repeated and systematic violations and evasions of sanctions when the presiding country is deemed not to be taking sufficient practical measures such as an investigation,” the official said. “I think there’s a clear difference in this case, where the two sides have been closely coordinating since the earliest stages.” The official also provided an explanation on the Jin Long, which recently entered Pohang’s New Harbor and unloaded coal that was “suspected” of being North Korean. “The place-of-origin certification [for the coal] was confirmed. It was confirmed with Russia,” the official said, stressing that there was no possibility of the documents being forged. The investigation findings reported the Jin Long as having brought 4,584 tons of North Korean anthracite into Donghae Harbor last October. The South Korean government announced on Aug. 10 that it had referred the case to prosecutors with a recommendation to indict three individual importers and three importation businesses on charges on bringing 35,038 tons of North Korean coal and pig iron valued at 6.6 billion won (US$5.8 million) into South Korea over the course of seven deliveries between April and October of last year to profit from the sale of banned North Korean coal. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
