The Chinese border city of Dandong continues to provide lifeline support to the North Korean economy despite United Nations sanctions imposed on the country after it tested a nuclear weapon three years ago, a new report says.
According to researchers at the Royal United Services Institute, businesses in Dandong are importing coal and mining resources from North Korea and selling them on the global market. Dandong merchants are also buying commodities and shipping them into North Korea for possible use in the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
Dandong is located across the Yalu River from the North Korean state of Sinuiju and has long been a major hub for cross-border tourism.
Dandong’s financial infrastructure plays an important role in sustaining North Korea’s trade. From 2014 to 2017, nearly a quarter of North Korean trade, totaling $2.9 billion, was conducted through 150 companies in Dandong, according to research by the Royal United Services Institute.
Much of that trade is now prohibited by U.N. sanctions, report co-author Joe Byrne told VOA on Monday.
Byrne said, “For example, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned many entities in Denton over the past few years that are actively engaged in illegal trade.”
The report says that just 10 of those 150 companies, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of trade to North Korea during that period, and five of which were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for their ties to the North Korean government and its nuclear-armed missile program, are still operating.
Following Pyongyang’s sixth and largest nuclear test to date in September 2017, the U.N. Security Council imposed broad sanctions on the DPRK’s economy, including the export of its coal and mineral resources. China has expressed support for these sanctions.
But the report’s authors say there is strong evidence that Dandong continues to import resources from the DPRK.
For example, they earn revenue from coal exports,” Byrne said, “and then re-export them through front companies in Hong Kong, which have the same logos as Chinese companies, such as phone numbers and office addresses. These companies then buy the products and ship them to North Korea. Some of these companies also supply countries such as Syria, Iran and Burma that have reportedly had military dealings with North Korea in the past.”
Byrne told VOA, “It’s so broad that it’s hard to say exactly what trade is going on that is definitely for nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It’s also hard to say for sure in terms of the illicit trade that’s going on, because China has stopped reporting trade figures.”
The report’s authors say Dandong’s companies have allowed North Korea to bypass sanctions, raising serious questions about China’s implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions backed by Beijing.
Recent Comments