FOREIGN POLICY/INTELLIGENCE/NORTH KOREA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “Presenting newly declassified intelligence reports, the U.S. has urged the United Nations Security Council to blacklist 10 ships it says have violated international sanctions against North Korea, American officials said.
The American intelligence was provided in recent weeks to try to persuade a sanctions committee that reports to the Security Council to formally designate the ships as sanctions violators, the officials said. That would allow nations to take punitive measures such as banning them from entering ports or obtaining insurance.
It might also provide a basis for seizing the assets of the companies that own the ships, and may help build up a more rigorous system of sanctions enforcement, especially at sea, the officials said.
The American intelligence includes photos that show how foreign-flagged ships have evaded sanctions by illicitly transferring refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels at sea. Other photos show how two ships breached sanctions by smuggling North Korean coal to a Russian port.
Much of the information was gathered by U.S. naval intelligence, and some of the declassified reports were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal…
The sanctions the U.S. contends were breached were spelled out in two Security Council resolutions, each adopted by a unanimous vote.”
-Michael R. Gordon and Farnaz Fassihi, “U.S. Seeks U.N. Ban on Ships Helping North Korea Dodge Sanctions,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 20, 2017 05:00am