A recent investigation found that North Korea may be shipping coal directly into China. As one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China’s smuggling activity is likely a violation of UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
Japanese media Nikkei reported on June 29 that it had obtained data on about 180 vessels, with close ties to North Korea, from two ship information companies, MarineTraffic and Refinitiv, and tracked their movements for 18 months starting in January 2021.
Thirty-seven vessels had docked at Longkou port in China’s Shandong province while transmitting Automatic Ship Identification System (AIS) data. In addition, at least 20 vessels had docked at ports in Liaoning and Hebei provinces, which handle large volumes of coal….