Banned N Korea ship docks at Japan port: Report
Despite facing a UN Security Council ban, a North Korean ship has reportedly docked at a port in southern Japan.
Ryong Rim, which sails for the North's Wonyang Shipping Corporation, berthed off the Japanese island of Kyushu on Friday, showed data from the Marine Traffic website. The vessel remained at the port for more than nine hours.
Japan’s United Nations mission, however, said there had been no evidence of such development.
Piling pressure on the country over its aggressive nuclear activities, the council adopted a raft of sanctions against Pyongyang in early March.
The punitive measures imposed trade restrictions on North Korea, required UN member states to inspect all cargoes to and from North Korea, and barred vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods to the country from leaving ports. The sanctions also proactively banned 27 North Korean ships, including Ryong Rim, from sailing.
UN members’ respective transport ministries have, meanwhile, produced their respective lists of blacklisted North Korean vessels, heeding the sanctions regime.
The sanctions came after seven weeks of intense negotiations between the United States and China, the latter being considered North Korea’s main ally.
After the adoption of the bans, though, North Korean ships resumed activities, and radars have indicated that ships have been sailing near South Korea and Japan.
North Korea had already been the target of hard-hitting UN sanctions over its nuclear tests and missile launches.
Pyongyang declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and carried out four nuclear weapons tests later – in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2016.
It also launched a long-range rocket last month reportedly aimed at placing an earth observation satellite into orbit. The launch was condemned by some countries as a disguised missile test.
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