Ships outside of the Port of Busan, March 5, 2022 | Image: NK News, edited
Editor’s note: What If? is an NK News series featuring scenarios about North Korea’s future. Articles in this series draw on verified facts and rigorous analysis to explore hypothetical events in the years and decades ahead.
Every day tens of thousands of rickety fishing boats, cargo ships and chemical tankers criss-cross Chinese waters in a dizzying frenzy, creating one of the most dangerous places to sail in the world. Amid the mayhem, North Korean cargo ships rendezvous with Chinese vessels to illegally offload iron, coal and zinc in risky ship-to-ship transfers on rough waters.
Editor’s note: What If? is an NK News series featuring scenarios about North Korea’s future. Articles in this series draw on verified facts and rigorous analysis to explore hypothetical events in the years and decades ahead.
Every day tens of thousands of rickety fishing boats, cargo ships and chemical tankers criss-cross Chinese waters in a dizzying frenzy, creating one of the most dangerous places to sail in the world. Amid the mayhem, North Korean cargo ships rendezvous with Chinese vessels to illegally offload iron, coal and zinc in risky ship-to-ship transfers on rough waters.
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Ethan Jewell is a Seoul-based correspondent for NK News focused on sanctions, trade and maritime issues. He previously worked as an investigations and intelligence specialist for Pinkerton Comprehensive Risk Management and as a research intern for the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies.