Report: North Korean Ships Possibly Trying to Undermine Fuel Sanctions

North Korea may have been attempting to undermine international sanctions when eight ships left Russia with fuel and traveled back to North Korea instead of their declared declarations — possibly in a bid to dodge sanctions on its trade.

Reuters reports that, while there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the eight ships, U.S. officials believe that changing their destination and using different firms are signs that North Korea may be complicating efforts to check how much fuel is supplied to the rogue regime.

The United Nations has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on the regime, including limiting how much fuel it can be supplied by other countries, but U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and other members of the Security Council have cautioned that the sanctions are only effective if they are implemented by all members — including China and Russia.

According to Reuters, the ships sailed from Russia, either the port of Vladivostok or Nakhodka, and registered either China or South Korea as their destination with the appropriate authorities. However, none of those ships went to China and were instead recorded at various North Korean ports before mostly returning to Russia.

One of the ships took on cargo at a port owned by Russia’s Independent Petroleum company, the outlet reports. The Treasury has put IPC on its sanctions blacklist in June, claiming it provides oil to North Korea and may have helped them dodge sanctions.

Since the U.S. sanctions were imposed on IPC, all North Korean vessels that had been in Vladivostok port have left, Reuters reported.

The report comes just a day after President Trump slammed countries who traded with North Korea in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict,” he said.

Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics and U.N. reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.