N. Korea's port activity jumps fivefold since 2019, suggesting illicit coal trade: report

Commercial vessel activity at North Korea's ports has surged fivefold since 2019, a report said Tuesday, raising fresh suspicions of illegal coal trading. The report, co-published by the Seoul-based Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and British research group Data Desk, tracked vessels longer than 80 meters at North Korea's five major ports — Nampho, Chongjin, Wonsan, Rason and Kimchaek. Recorded activity climbed to 3,756 cases last year, up from 783 in 2019. Nampho, North Korea's largest coal export hub, saw the sharpest rise with more than 3,000 cases last year, up from 554 in 2019. The findings were based on satellite imagery of the ports combined with AIS data — the digital location signals sent by ships. One key detail in the report is that only between 14 and 33 percent of vessels visible in satellite photos appeared in AIS records — a gap the report says points to ships deliberately going dark to evade detection. North Korea's coal exports have been banned outright since the United Nations passed Resolution 2371 in 2017. The ban, however, has not stopped the trWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times