LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations has blacklisted a North Korean ship for receiving oil in an October transfer that breached U.N. sanctions, as first revealed by Reuters.

Reuters in December reported that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea, which relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning, by transferring cargoes at sea.

European security sources told Reuters that a Russian vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the North Korean-flagged Sam Ma 2 tanker in open seas during October.

“A DPRK-flagged (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) tanker, SAM MA 2 owned by Korea Samma Shipping Company, conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of oil and fabricated documents in mid-October 2017, loading almost 1,600 metric tons of fuel oil in one transaction,” the United Nations said.

It is the first confirmation of the Reuters report.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday blacklisted dozens of ships and shipping companies over oil and coal smuggling by North Korea, boosting pressure on Pyongyang as leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.

The council’s North Korea sanctions committee acted on a request by the United States, designating 21 shipping companies - including five based in China - 15 North Korean ships, 12 non-North Korean ships and a Taiwanese man.

The 12 non-North Korea ships are now subjected to a global port ban and must be deregistered, while the 15 North Korean ships are subjected to an asset freeze and 13 of those a global port ban.

The move comes days after Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping and an announcement that the North Korean leader would meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27. He is also scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump some time in May.</s>The United Nations has blacklisted a North Korean ship for receiving oil in an October transfer that breached UN sanctions as first revealed by Reuters on Tuesday.

Reuters in December reported that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea, which relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning by transferring cargoes at sea.

European security sources told Reuters that a Russian vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the North Korean-flagged Sam Ma 2 tanker in open seas in October.

“A DPRK-flagged (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) tanker, SAM MA 2 owned by Korea Samma Shipping Company, conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of oil and fabricated documents in mid-October 2017.

“The tanker sometimes loads almost 1,600 metric tons of fuel oil in one transaction,” the UN said.

It is the first confirmation of the Reuters report.

The UN Security Council on Friday blacklisted dozens of ships and shipping companies over oil and coal smuggling by North Korea, boosting pressure on Pyongyang as leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.

The council’s North Korea sanctions committee acted on a request by the U.S., designating 21 shipping companies, including five based in China, 15 North Korean ships, 12 non-North Korean ships and a Taiwanese man.

The 12 non-North Korea ships are now subjected to a global port ban and must be deregistered, while the 15 North Korean ships are subjected to an asset freeze and 13 of those a global port ban.

The move came days after Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping and an announcement that the North Korean leader would meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

He is also scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump sometime in May.</s>LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations has blacklisted a North Korean ship for receiving oil in an October transfer that breached U.N. sanctions, as first revealed by Reuters.

Reuters in December reported that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea, which relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning, by transferring cargoes at sea.

 European security sources told Reuters that a Russian vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the North Korean-flagged Sam Ma 2 tanker in open seas during October.

 "A DPRK-flagged (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) tanker, SAM MA 2 owned by Korea Samma Shipping Company, conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of oil and fabricated documents in mid-October 2017, loading almost 1,600 metric tons of fuel oil in one transaction," the United Nations said.

 It is the first confirmation of the Reuters report.

 The U.N. Security Council on Friday blacklisted dozens of ships and shipping companies over oil and coal smuggling by North Korea, boosting pressure on Pyongyang as leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.

 The council's North Korea sanctions committee acted on a request by the United States, designating 21 shipping companies - including five based in China - 15 North Korean ships, 12 non-North Korean ships and a Taiwanese man.

 The 12 non-North Korea ships are now subjected to a global port ban and must be deregistered, while the 15 North Korean ships are subjected to an asset freeze and 13 of those a global port ban.

 The move comes days after Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping and an announcement that the North Korean leader would meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27. He is also scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump some time in May.

 

 (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Jonathan Saul in London and Polina Nikolskaya in Moscow; Editing by Mark Potter)</s>LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations has blacklisted a North Korean ship for receiving oil in an October transfer that breached U.N. sanctions, as first revealed by Reuters.

Reuters in December reported that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea, which relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning, by transferring cargoes at sea.

European security sources told Reuters that a Russian vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the North Korean-flagged Sam Ma 2 tanker in open seas during October.

"A DPRK-flagged (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) tanker, SAM MA 2 owned by Korea Samma Shipping Company, conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of oil and fabricated documents in mid-October 2017, loading almost 1,600 metric tons of fuel oil in one transaction," the United Nations said.

It is the first confirmation of the Reuters report.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday blacklisted dozens of ships and shipping companies over oil and coal smuggling by North Korea, boosting pressure on Pyongyang as leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.

The council's North Korea sanctions committee acted on a request by the United States, designating 21 shipping companies - including five based in China - 15 North Korean ships, 12 non-North Korean ships and a Taiwanese man.

The 12 non-North Korea ships are now subjected to a global port ban and must be deregistered, while the 15 North Korean ships are subjected to an asset freeze and 13 of those a global port ban.

The move comes days after Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping and an announcement that the North Korean leader would meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27. He is also scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump some time in May.</s>The Treasury puts sanctions on North Korean banks and individuals linked to North Korean financial networks.</s>PARIS/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - North Korea shipped coal to Russia last year which was then delivered to South Korea and Japan in a likely violation of U.N. sanctions, three Western European intelligence sources said.

 The U.N. Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal last Aug. 5 under sanctions intended to cut off an important source of the foreign currency Pyongyang needs to fund its nuclear weapon and missile programs. 

 But the secretive Communist state has at least three times since then shipped coal to the Russian ports of Nakhodka and Kholmsk, where it was unloaded at docks and reloaded onto ships that took it to South Korea or Japan, the sources said.

 A Western shipping source said separately that some of the cargoes reached Japan and South Korea in October last year. A U.S. security source also confirmed the coal trade via Russia and said it was continuing.

 "Russia's port of Nakhodka is becoming a transhipping hub for North Korean coal," said one of the European security sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of international diplomacy around North Korea.

 Asked to respond to the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia abided by international law.

 "Russia is a responsible member of the international community," he told reporters on a conference call. 

 Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified official at Russia's embassy to North Korea on Friday as saying Russia did not buy coal from North Korea and was "not a transit point for coal deliveries to third countries." 

 Russia's mission to the United Nations told the Security Council sanctions committee on Nov. 3 that Moscow was complying with the sanctions. 

 Two lawyers who specialize in sanctions law told Reuters it appeared the transactions violated U.N. sanctions. 

 Reuters could not independently verify whether the coal unloaded at the Russian docks was the same coal that was then shipped to South Korea and Japan. Reuters also was unable to ascertain whether the owners of the vessels that sailed from Russia to South Korea and Japan knew the origin of the coal.

 The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday put the owner of one of the ships, the UAL Ji Bong 6, under sanctions for delivering North Korean coal to Kholmsk on Sept. 5. 

 It was unclear which companies profited from the coal shipments.

 

 RUSSIA URGED "DO MORE" ON SANCTIONS 

 North Korean coal exports were initially capped under a 2016 Security Council resolution that required countries to report monthly imports of coal from North Korea to the council's sanctions committee within 30 days of the end of each month.

 Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia had not reported any imports of North Korea coal to the committee last year.

 The sanctions committee told U.N. member states in November that a violation occurs when "activities or transactions proscribed by Security Council resolutions are undertaken or attempts are made to engage in proscribed transactions, whether or not the transaction has been completed."

 Asked about the shipments identified by Reuters, Matthew Oresman, a partner with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who advises companies on sanctions, said: "Based on these facts, there appears to be a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution by the parties involved."

 "Also those involved in arranging, financing, and carrying out the shipments could likely face U.S. sanctions," he said.

 The United States has led efforts to toughen U.N. sanctions to force North Korea to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting America. 

 Asked about the shipments, a U.S. State Department spokesman said: "It's clear that Russia needs to do more. All U.N. member states, including Russia, are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith and we expect them all to do so."

 Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Russia of not implementing all the U.N sanctions and said Moscow "may be frustrating" some of the steps.

 Tillerson said the Russian failure to comply with the U.N. measures "primarily" concerned fuel "but some other areas potentially as well."

 A State Department official said it was time for Russia to act.

 "There is no more time for excuses," the official said. "The world is watching Russia’s actions closely."

 "Russia says it wants better relations with the United States, so Moscow should prove that by cooperating with us, not working against us, on this urgent threat to all nations." 

 The independent panel of experts that reports to the Security Council on violations of sanctions was not available for comment. 

 North Korea has refused to give up the development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States. It has said the sanctions infringe its sovereignty and accused the United States of wanting to isolate and stifle North Korea.

 An independent panel of experts reported to the Security Council on Sept. 5 that North Korea had been "deliberately using indirect channels to export prohibited commodities, evading sanctions."

 Reuters reported last month that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea at sea and U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview on Jan. 17 that Russia was helping Pyongyang get supplies in violation of the sanctions.

 The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on nine entities, 16 people and six North Korean ships it accused of helping the weapons programs. 

 

 GRAPHIC: North Korean coal shipments via Russia - http://tmsnrt.rs/2DRokNW 

 

 TWO ROUTES

 Two separate routes for the coal were identified by the Western security sources.

 The first used vessels from North Korea via Nakhodka, about 85 km (53 miles) east of the Russian city of Vladivostok. 

 One vessel that used this route was the Palau-flagged Jian Fu which Russian port control documents show delivered 17,415 tonnes of coal after sailing from Nampo in North Korea on Aug. 3 and docking at berth No. 4 run by LLC Port Livadiya in Nakhodka. It left the port on Aug. 18. 

 The vessel had turned off its tracking transmitter from July 24 to Aug. 2, when it was in open seas, according to publicly available ship tracking data. Under maritime conventions, this is acceptable practice at the discretion of the ship's captain, but means the vessel could not be tracked publicly. 

 Another ship arrived at the same berth -- No. 4 -- on Aug. 16, loaded 20,500 tonnes of coal and headed to the South Korean port of Ulsan in Aug. 24, according to Russian port control documents.

 Reuters was unable to reach the operator of the Jian Fu, which was listed in shipping directories as the China-based Sunrise Ship Management. The Nakhodka-based transport agent of the Jian Fu did not respond to written and telephone requests for comment. LLC Port Livadiya did not respond to a written request for comment.

 The second route took coal via Kholmsk on the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin, north of Japan.

 At least two North Korean vessels unloaded coal at a dock in Kholmsk port in August and September after arriving from the ports of Wonsan and Taean in North Korea, Russian port control data and ship tracking data showed.

 The Rung Ra 2 docked in Kholmsk three times between Aug. 1 and Sept. 12, unloading a total of 15,542 tonnes of coal, while the Ul Ji Bong 6 unloaded a total of 10,068 tonnes of coal on two separate port calls -- on Aug. 3 and between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, according to the official Russian Information System for State Port Control. 

 The coal did not pass Russian customs because of the UN sanctions taking effect, but was then loaded at the same dock onto Chinese-operated vessels. Those vessels stated their destination in Russian port control documents as North Korea, according to a source in Sakhalin port administration who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

 Reuters has seen the port control documents which state the destination of the coal as North Korea. But the vessels that loaded the North Korean coal sailed instead for the ports of Pohang and Incheon in South Korea, ship tracking data showed.

 In Beijing on Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters she did not know anything about the situation but China was clear in its hope that the UN resolutions are followed fully. 

 China will not allow any Chinese company or individual to do anything that goes against the resolutions and if there is cast-iron proof this is happening, China will handle it seriously and in accordance with the law, she added. 

 The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday included the owner of the Ul Ji Bong 6 under sanctions for delivering North Korean coal to Kholmsk after the sanctions took effect. 

 It was unclear which companies profited from the coal shipments.

 Asked about the shipments, a South Korean foreign ministry official said: "Our government is monitoring any sanctions-evading activities by North Korea. We're working closely with the international community for the implementation of the sanctions."

 The official declined to say whether the ministry was aware of the shipments reported by Reuters. 

 The Japanese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 The European security sources said the route via Russia had developed as China, North Korea's neighbor and lone major ally, cracked down on exports from the secretive Communist state. 

 "The Chinese have cracked down on coal exports from North Korea so the smuggling route has developed and Russia is the transit point for coal," one of the European security sources said.

 

 (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jonathan Saul; Additional reporting by Michele Nichols in New York, Oksana Kobzeva and Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, William James in London, Muyu Xu, Ben Blanchard and Josephine Mason in Beijing, Aaron Sheldrick and Linda Sieg in Tokyo, and David Brunnstrom, Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Clarence Fernandez, Sonya Hepinstall and Lisa Shumaker)</s>North Korea's foreign ministry has said those who voted for the UN sanctions will "pay heavy price for what they have done".</s>RBC Capital Markets head of commodity strategy Helima Croft weighs in on the markets reacting to Russian tankers supplying fuel to North Korea, breaching sanctions set by the United Nations. Chris Johnson, Johnson Research Group, and Michael Cuggino, P...</s>North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun complained about the “human rights racket” on Monday, charging that the United States and its “vassal forces” have fabricated complaints about the appalling state of human rights in North Korea to justify ongoing sanctions and trick the North Korean people into turning against their government.

Rodong Sinmun fulminated against what it described as lies “cooked up” by the evil Americans and propagated by “egging despicable human scum” at international organizations.

According to the North Korean paper, the goal is for the U.S. to “justify its hostile policy toward the DPRK and undermine the single-minded unity of the army and people of the DPRK.” DPRK is North Korea’s name for itself.

The editorial goes on to explain that it is impossible for North Korea to have any sort of human rights problem because the “genuine sovereign rights of the popular masses are guaranteed by law.”

“There can never exist a ‘human rights issue’ in the DPRK” because it is a “socialist system centered on the popular masses,” Rodong Sinmun explained.

This could be part of Pyongyang’s attempt to set the stage for dictator Kim Jong-un’s upcoming summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and U.S. President Donald Trump, should any or all of them actually occur. Such outbursts from North Korean media could be taken as a way of signaling that human rights will not be on the negotiating table, even though the United Nations has called for human rights to be a major component of any nuclear talks with North Korea.

Pyongyang could also be lashing out at the U.N. Human Rights Council for passing a resolution last week “condemning North Korea’s horrific rights abuses and supporting efforts to bring leading officials in Pyongyang to account,” as John Fisher of Human Rights Watch put it.

“The overwhelming support for this resolution shows the resounding commitment of the international community to ensure that Kim Jong-un and North Korea’s rights-abusing authorities don’t escape justice,” Fisher said.

The U.N. resolution in question essentially strengthened the office of the human rights rapporteur in Seoul and extended its mandate, adding experts on international criminal justice to its staff and sending a clear signal that North Korea’s offenses will not be forgotten during denuclearization talks.

The South Korean government welcomed the resolution and pledged to “make continued efforts together with the international community to effectively improve North Korea’s human rights situation.”</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, were among the hundreds in Pyongyang on Sunday watching South Korean K-pop singers perform in the North for the first time in more than a decade as tensions between the old rivals thaw.

It was the first time a North Korean leader had attended a South Korean performance in the North’s capital. Kim was seen clapping in tune to some of the songs and took photographs with the performers after the show.

“Our dear leader comrade said his heart swelled and he was moved by the sight of his people deepen their understanding of South Korean popular culture and cheer with sincerity,” the North’s KCNA state media said.

The North Korean audience clapped, cheered, sang along to some of the songs and later presented the South Korean performers with bouquets.

“(Kim Jong Un) showed much interest during the show and asked questions about the songs and lyrics,” Culture Minister Do Jong-whan told reporters after the show.

Sunday’s performance coincided with the start of annual joint South Korean-U.S. military drills, which have previously been met with denunciations and missile launches by the North, and were delayed and shortened this year in order not to overshadow the Olympic detente.

The recent thaw in relations, which could even lead to a summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in May, follows months of increased tensions after North Korea conducted missile launches and a nuclear test last year in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

Sunday’s concert was held under the title “Spring is Coming” at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, performed by an elite lineup of South Korean artists including veteran vocalists Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, rock star Yoon Do-hyun and singer Baek Ji-young, as well as K-pop girl band Red Velvet.

Like the concert title, the performance had brought a “spring of peace” to the two Koreas, Kim was also cited as saying by the North’s central news agency, and expressed wishes for a “prosperous autumn”.

The North Korean leader’s face was slightly flushed in a group photograph with the performers distributed by North Korean state media. He was seen in another directly addressing members of Red Velvet, which commands more than 4.6 million followers on Instagram.

North Korean staff were spotted outside the performers’ dressing rooms using Japan-made electronic devices to serve coffee and cupcakes, including Western Lavazza and Coffee-mate products, according to a South Korean media pool report.

Sunday’s two-hour concert in Pyongyang, along with a separate taekwondo performance earlier in the day, came as South Korea’s engagement with North Korea has grown since Kim expressed his willingness for more contact between the two countries.

Athletes from North and South Korea marched under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February. The significant thaw in the inter-Korean relations has led them to set a date for their first summit in more than a decade on April 27.

The two Koreas are technically still at war after the 1950-1953 conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace agreement.

The South Korean delegation included artists, concert staff, taekwondo demonstrators, reporters and government officials. They traveled to Pyongyang on Saturday in a reciprocal cultural visit after North Korea sent performers to the South in February, the South’s Culture Ministry said.

In addition to the concert, a team of South Korean taekwondo demonstrators performed on Sunday at the Pyongyang Taekwondo Hall, drawing more than 2,300 North Koreans, including Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee.

The images of Kim posing and laughing with the young South Korean pop stars and applauding in the stands contrasts with reports from North Korean defectors who say he has overseen a crackdown on foreign media.

“North Korean refugees overwhelmingly and consistently report that it has become more dangerous to consume foreign media under Kim Jong Un’s crackdowns,” Sokeel Park, the South Korea country director for refugee aid organization Liberty in North Korea, said on Twitter.

A 2015 survey of North Korean refugees conducted by the U.S. government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors found that 77 percent of respondents said it had become more dangerous to listen to foreign radio under Kim.

South Korean movies were often reported to be especially taboo compared to Chinese films, according to a report by the InterMedia consultancy group, with North Koreans potentially facing prison time if caught.

Seohyun, an actress and vocalist with South Korean girl group Girls’ Generation, sang a North Korean pop song called “Blue Willow Tree”. She had performed with the North’s Samjiyon Orchestra in Seoul in February.

Cho Yong-pil, 68, sang a string of hits including “The Cafe in the Winter”, “Short Hair” and “Let’s Go on a Trip”. Cho staged a solo concert in Pyongyang in 2005 - the last concert by a South Korean artist in the North before Sunday’s performance.

The same South Korean singers will hold a joint concert with North Korean performers on Tuesday at the Ryukyung Chung Ju Yung Gymnasium, a joint project between the North and South named after Hyundai Group billionaire founder Chung Ju-yung, who had long advocated inter-Korean cultural and economic exchanges.

Kim had been planning to attend the Tuesday performance but decided to watch Sunday’s show due to “political schedules”, KCNA and South Korean officials there said.
The United Nations places sanctions on a North Korean ship for conducting fuel transfers in breach of UN sanctions.