I am pleased to submit for the consideration of the committee several photographs provided by our intelligence community, which clearly show that the North Koreans are using deceptive practices in commercial shipping.
- Billingsley said at a hearing in the committee of the House of Representatives on international affairs.
He further provided the committee with several photographs of the courts, but did not say what those vessels were and when the photographs were taken.
These photos show that North Korea is using this practice to disguise the origin of coal exported to Russia and China. In the first example, the ship goes from China and declares that it is heading to Russia. During this trip, the ship turns off the automatic identification system AIS, probably stops in North Korea to load coal, goes to Russian Vladivostok, and then returns to China, probably to unload coal. Today we are providing this information to congress and the public, and we will also share it with other countries, as we are taking steps to put an end to this deceptive practice and implement the UN embargo on coal, iron and iron ore, as well as other materials.
- declared Billingsley.He did not explain how the United States traced the ship’s route when the automatic identification system was turned off.
Deliveries of coal, as well as iron ore and iron from the DPRK are banned by UN Security Council resolution 2371 of August 5.
This is not the first case of smuggling charges involving Russia and the DPRK. On Monday, the Washington Post newspaper, citing unnamed US officials, wrote that "Russian smugglers" allegedly provide assistance to North Korea with supplies of oil and other vital goods. This, according to the newspaper, gives the DPRK the opportunity to wait out sanctions and calls into question that they will force the country to abandon the creation of a nuclear weapons.
Publication sources said that tanker shipments between the ports of North Korea and Vladivostok increased this spring - allegedly Russian businessmen use the opportunity to earn money by creating chains of front companies. Earlier, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia does not supply oil to the DPRK, and the volume of supply of petroleum products is insignificant and close to zero, reports RIA News.