On August 3, 2021, the New Konk will leave a Chinese shipyard.

The oil tanker enters a bay off the east coast of China and sends a fake signal - the New Konk claims to be another ship.

Then she disappears from the radar.

At the end of September, the freighter appears off the North Korean coast.

A satellite captures the New Konk anchored in mid-ocean next to a North Korean ship.

In a report released in March, the United Nations concluded that the two ships exchanged goods to circumvent sanctions imposed on North Korea.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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“For a long time there was no country against which the European Union imposed more sanctions.

Now Russia tops the list,” says Tereza Novotná.

She researches the European Union's Korea policy at Freie Universität Berlin.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, various actors have imposed numerous sanctions against Russia – and here, too, the spiral of conflict continues to turn.

Why don't the measures seem to work?

In the case of North Korea, the sanctions are losing their effectiveness because they are being circumvented by various actors, says Novotná.

China and Russia in particular supported the regime.

A sanctions committee in the United Nations Security Council monitors compliance with the measures.

They affect significantly more areas than the sanctions imposed on Russia.

smuggling at sea

Since 2006, when the country conducted its first nuclear test, the United Nations has gradually expanded sanctions, as well as decisions by the United States, the European Union, neighboring countries South Korea and Japan and other countries.

There are 65 individuals on the European Union's sanctions list alone.

The resolutions of the United Nations also prohibit trade in luxury goods, coal, iron and seafood.

And the regime is virtually cut off from the international financial system.

An important part of North Korea's illegal trade is played by sea transfers, such as that of the New Konk. Oil in particular is brought into the country in this way.

The sanctions limit the amount North Korea can import annually to 500,000 barrels.

Using satellite images, the 2021 Sanctions Committee found evidence of illegal oil imports that could amount to around 526,000 barrels.

Manipulated positioning systems obscure the names of the ships or are switched off so that routes cannot be traced.

Russian ships traveling incognito

There are already first indications that Russia is also trying to circumvent the sanctions in this way.

In the penultimate week of March, 33 Russian oil tankers temporarily switched off their tracking system, the Bloomberg news agency reported, citing data from an Israeli consulting firm.

In some cases, Russian-flagged ships have been spotted alongside non-Russian ships - which could indicate illegal trade as in the case of the New Konk.

Since the beginning of the war, 22 ships have also been registered in Russian waters for the first time.

The patterns of movement could indicate that some trading firms are trying to fill in the gaps left by western firms pulling out due to sanctions.

The authorities are often powerless when it comes to prosecuting crimes.

The owners hide behind company networks that span several countries.

As in the case of the New Konk, Chinese shipyards are often at the center of the illegal trade with North Korea.

The masterminds are rarely prosecuted.

North Korea also uses such corporate networks for other illegal businesses.

According to the sanctions committee, a North Korean businessman living in Moscow is said to have placed North Korean workers with Russian companies through various companies and the embassy in Moscow.

Since December 2019, a United Nations resolution has banned North Koreans from working abroad.

Information on the parties involved cannot be given, Russia informed the sanctions committee: The companies no longer exist.