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A North Korean oil tanker called the Ansan 1 receiving refined petroleum products from an unidentified ship in international waters in the East China Sea on June 29. (provided by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Russia and China are pushing the brakes on Washington’s attempt to stiffen sanctions on North Korea. The differences between the US on one side and China and Russia on the other over whether to relax economic sanctions on the North have become more evident since Pyongyang and Washington began holding dialogue toward the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization.

On July 19, AP reported that the Russian delegation to the UN had asked the US for more time to investigate allegations raised by the US last week that North Korea has been smuggling in refined petroleum products.

On July 12, the US submitted a report to the UN committee on North Korean sanctions claiming that by the end of May North Korea’s illegal imports of refined petroleum had already exceeded the import cap of 500,000 barrels set by a UN Security Council resolution and asking the committee to ban exports of refined petroleum to North Korea through the end of the year. Japanese broadcaster NHK also reported on July 20 that “China and Russia voiced their disagreement” with the US request. The investigation that Russia has requested would reportedly last for six months.

According to the report the US submitted on July 12, North Korea received 89 shipments of refined petroleum through the illegal means of secretly transporting petroleum from one ship to another in international waters between January and May.

For example, Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced on July 4 that the JS Sendai, which belongs to the 14th squadron of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, had observed a North Korean oil tanker called the Ansan 1 receiving something from an unidentified ship in international waters in the East China Sea (about 350km southeast of Shanghai) on June 29. The website of Japan’s Foreign Ministry states that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force observed nine incidents of this sort from the beginning of the year through the end of June.

In Dec. 2017, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution No. 2397, which reduced the cap on North Korea’s refined petroleum from the previous level of 2 million barrels to 500,000 barrels because of the North’s repeated nuclear weapon and missile tests.

Last month, China and Russia released a statement to the press calling for a review of the sanctions against North Korea, but the US is opposed to that idea. Despite the ongoing dialogue between North Korea and the US to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that economic sanctions cannot be lifted until North Korea has denuclearized.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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