China detects export of $290,000 worth of goods subject to sanctions against North Korea from January to August of this year
Quick Look
- An analysis of customs data by the U.S.
- VOA Broadcasting Service revealed that China exported industrial machinery, electrical equipment, and vehicles subject to UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea from January to August of this year to North Korea worth approximately $290,000.
- The items in question include centrifugal pumps, sterilizers, transformers, and two four-wheel drive vehicles, and most of them are marked as ‘general trade,’ so it is unclear whether they are exempt from sanctions.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The UN Security Council banned the supply of industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, transportation, and steel and metal products to North Korea through Resolution 2397 on sanctions against North Korea in 2017. In the past, when trade in contraband was pointed out, China explained that the products in question were humanitarian goods.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Eunjung Lee = Circumstances were discovered that China exported goods subject to UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, such as industrial machinery, electrical equipment, and vehicles, worth $290,000 to North Korea until August of this year.
The Voice of America (VOA) reported on the 25th that as a result of analyzing detailed data on exports to North Korea from January to August of this year by the General Administration of Customs of China, 32 items corresponding to the HS code (Harmonized International Commodity Classification System), which the Security Council banned from supplying to North Korea, were identified.
The total export amount of these items was calculated to be $289,836 (about 380 billion won).
The UN Security Council, through resolution 2397 on sanctions against North Korea adopted in 2017, prohibited the supply of industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment (HS codes 84 and 85), transportation (classes 86 to 89), and steel and metal products (classes 72 to 83) to North Korea.
Export items confirmed in the General Office of Customs data during this period included centrifugal pumps, sterilizers for medical, surgical, and laboratory use, water purification and filtration devices for non-home use, transformers, and power cables.
In particular, two four-wheel drive vehicles were included, which cost about $128,000 and $65,000, respectively, and the combined price of the two vehicles alone amounted to about $193,000.
In the past, when China was criticized for trading in contraband, it explained that these products were humanitarian goods from international relief organizations.
According to the Security Council resolution, a separate sanctions exemption process is in place for goods intended for humanitarian aid, so it is possible that the items confirmed to be exported this time may also have received official sanctions exemption.
However, it was added that most of these items are listed as 'general trade' in China's General Administration of Customs data, and that 'relief or donations between governments or international organizations' are classified separately.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The UN Security Council will demand an official investigation into China's violations of sanctions against North Korea.
Possible · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Whether the export is exempt from official sanctions
- Was the Chinese government aware of this export?
- Final use and purpose of exported 4-wheel drive vehicles
