Photo : YONHAP News
China is believed to have exported about 290-thousand U.S. dollars worth of goods subject to UN sanctions on North Korea during the first eight months of this year, including industrial machinery and vehicles.
Voice of America(VOA) reported on Friday that analysis of Chinese customs data for January through August identified 32 categories of goods corresponding to Harmonized System(HS) codes for items banned by the UN Security Council from being supplied to North Korea, with their total value reaching 289-thousand-836 dollars.
The Security Council banned the supply of industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, transportation vehicles, iron, steel and other metal products to the North under Resolution 2397 adopted in 2017.
The items identified in the customs data during the eight-month period included centrifugal pumps, medical and laboratory sterilizers, non-household water purification and filtration equipment, transformers and power cables, as well as two four-wheel-drive vehicles valued at a combined 193-thousand dollars.
China previously justified transactions involving sanctioned goods by saying they were humanitarian supplies for international aid organizations.
VOA stated that the Security Council has a separate exemption procedure for goods provided as humanitarian assistance, raising the possibility that the exported items received official clearance.