North Korean coal piles up as sanctions take their toll and exports to China grind to a halt
For years the coal trade was a lucrative earner for Pyongyang – its main ally and key economic partner China imported 22 million tonnes worth nearly US$1.2 billion in 2016
A three-metre-high metal fence topped with razor wire in a North Korean port marks the front line of the United Nations’ ban on coal exports by Pyongyang. A mountain of North Korean coal – which would once have been bound for China – is piled up on one side of the barrier in Rajin harbour, stranded by the interdiction.
On the very next dock, about 2 million tonnes of Russian coal has come in by train and been shipped on to China this year by Russian port operator RasonConTrans. Its activities are specifically excluded from the UN Security Council’s sanctions resolutions – but attempts have been made to use it as a way to bypass the restrictions.
“They asked but we said no, we don’t do it,” said RasonConTrans’ deputy director Roman Minkevich.
The black mounds on the neighbouring wharf were evidence his firm was complying with the rules, he added.
“Behind the fence it’s Korean coal, it’s under sanctions now so it’s still here,” he said.
He declined to elaborate on the source of the requests.