PRC and Russian delegations to NK; Hunchun border crossings; Oman to hold some Iranian funds; Iran sends cars to Venezuela
Prohibited Transactions for the week of 24 July 2023 (#14)
North Korea
Delegations from Russia and the PRC visited North Korea for observances of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took Russia’s defense minister on a tour of a defense exhibition, which included ballistic missiles banned under UN Security Council resolutions. //Will the brazenness of Moscow and Pyongyang lead to anything other than verbal condemnation from the US or UN? North Korea also unveiled new surveillance and attack drones during a military parade. //If the drones actually work, will Pyongyang look to export them as a way to raise money?
In response to defense talks between Russia and the DPRK — and generally increased trade activity between the two countries — South Korea warned that any weapons trade with the DPRK would violate UN sanctions.
Chinese and North Korean traders are using the remote border crossing in Hunchun, Jilin Province, to move goods into the DPRK. In addition to auto parts, electronics and building supplies, traders are reportedly exporting high strength aluminum to North Korea, which would be in violation of international sanctions.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea asked the PRC to stop allowing North Korean sanctions evasion activities to occur within Chinese territorial waters. Beijing responded that it was “strictly implementing” UN Security Council resolutions regarding the DPRK. //Is this a prelude by the G7 for some sort of further political action against the PRC?
The US and South Korea held a working group meeting on North Korea’s cyber threats, as the two sides attempt to “disrupt the DPRK's ability to generate revenue for its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs”
South Korea’s central bank estimates that North Korea’s economy decreased 0.2 per cent in 2022, the third straight year of contraction.
Iran
The US government stated that Oman will receive and hold funds from Iraq that are owed to Iran. According to the US State Department, the money will be subject to the same restrictions as if the funds were still in Iraq, and therefore only usable by Iran for non-sanctionable activities which must be approved by the US in advance.
According to Iranian media, Tehran exported USD2.3 billion worth of goods to Iraq in the first quarter of the Iranian calendar year.
A US citizen found guilty of violating US sanctions against Iran between 2013 and 2020 has been sentenced to over three years in prison.
The individual was charged with engaging in two separate plots, the first using a number of front companies to “provide services to Iranian entities and engage in transactions involving Iranian petrochemical products,” and the second involving the use of a Panama-based front company to purchase two liquid petroleum gas tankers “to transport Iranian petrochemical products in international commerce on behalf of, and to benefit, Iranian entities associated with the Government of Iran.”
An Iranian car manufacturer delivered 1,000 cars to Venezuela as part of an agreement signed between the two countries in June, which calls for Iran to supply 200,000 cars to Venezuelan customers over the next five years.