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A carne unloads coal from the Jin Long docked at Pohang New Port

The South Korean government reported findings to the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea from its investigation into deliveries of North Korean coal to the South.

“The South Korean government sent a letter to the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea on Aug. 13 that contained its measures in connection with the North Korean coal matter,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs senior official said on Aug. 14. The Korea Customs Service previously referred the case to prosecutors on Aug. 10 with a recommendation to indict three individual importers and three businesses on charges of bringing a total of 35,038 tons of North Korean coal and pig iron valued at 6.6 billion won (US$5.8 million) into South Korea on seven occasions between Apr. and Oct. 2017 with the aim of profiting on the sale of the coal, which is subject to an import ban.

UNSC Resolution 2371, adopted in Aug. 2017, bans the importation and exportation of North Korean coal, iron, and iron ore. The decision barred the procurement of coal, iron, or iron ore from North Korea regardless of whether it represented the place of origin. Four vessels were identified in the investigation as having been used for the transportation of embargoed coal and iron from North Korea after the resolution’s adoption: the Sky Angel (Panama), Rich Glory (Sierra Leone), Shining Rich (Belize), and Jin Long (Belize). The South Korean government imposed entry bans for all four on Aug. 11.

While the specifics of the government’s report to the Sanctions Committee were not confirmed, it is believed to have contained the findings from the cases’ investigation and planned response measures.

“It is up to the Sanctions Committee to decide how to deal with this matter [now that the report has been submitted],” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs senior official said. The committee, which consists of the 15 countries on the UNSC, is to review the letter before making a decision on sanctions. But with the agreement of all 15 countries required to adopt UN sanctions against North Korea, observers are predicting the likelihood of separate sanctions over these cases as slim. In response to Seoul’s report, the committee was reported as saying that it lauded the South Korean government’s efforts to rigorously implement the existing sanctions.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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