Suspected North Korean vessels enter Japan 38 times during last 3 years

ANKARA

Suspected North Korean ships have visited Japanese ports at least 38 times over the past three years, violating the UN sanctions, a Japanese magazine claimed in its recent study.

The study conducted by the English-language weekly magazine, Nikkei Asia, found six ships, cited as linked to smuggling or as former North Korean flagged in UN reports, made 38 calls to the ports over the past three years.

Japan has banned imports and exports from North Korea since 2006. Whereas, since 2016, North Korean ships are not allowed to enter Japanese ports after Tokyo expanded the legal scope to prevent vessels sanctioned by the UN from entering its harbors.

However, the list of ships sanctioned by the UN has not been updated since 2018 due to opposition from China and Russia.

North Korea, the study claimed, also makes frequent use of transactions that utilize third countries as well as ship-to-ship transfers of cargo at sea, restricting the effectiveness of rules that govern flagged carriers and direct routes.

This has led several countries to implement countermeasures independent of the UN.

South Korea, for example, has ramped up efforts to identify the country of origin of shipments of items such as coal and iron ore, which North Korea is prohibited from trading in.

The US, according to the study, examines ships that have departed from countries with lax inspections. Both countries monitor ships suspected of smuggling and may seize them.

According to Japan's Foreign Ministry, South Korea had sanctioned nine vessels and the US has sanctioned 17 as of April last year.

The study examined the routes of 110 ships between 2020 and 2022 that were flagged in UN Security Council reports. Although not subject to sanctions, the ships are regarded as suspicious.

At least six of these ships had called at Japanese ports 38 times in total, according to the route records obtained from British data provider Refinitiv's Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals and port entry records, the study claimed.

Five of the vessels are suspected of smuggling North Korean coal, and one is a former North Korean-flagged vessel, according to the report.

In all cases, the AIS signals frequently go dark making it difficult to accurately determine routes and ports of call. However, Japanese legal measures do not apply because there is no record of recent port calls to North Korea.

The Japan Coast Guard has conducted on-site inspections of the six ships, but said: "Even if they are suspected by the UN, we cannot take any special measures."

According to the Foreign Ministry and others, Japan has never taken any independent measures to refuse ships from entering its ports.