ROK arrests broker who allegedly smuggled fuel worth $15 million to North Korea

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ROK arrests broker who allegedly smuggled fuel worth $15 million to North Korea

Coast guard says individual arranged 35 ship-to-ship transfers as DPRK looks to circumvent import restrictions

Shreyas Reddy January 30, 2023

ROK arrests broker who allegedly smuggled fuel worth $15 million to North Korea

A ship in waters off South Korea's Yeonpyeong-do Island near North Korea, June 2020 | Image: NK News

South Korea has arrested an oil broker for allegedly supplying around $14.7 million (18 billion Korean won) worth of diesel fuel to North Korea without government approval, the coast guard announced Monday.

Korea Coast Guard’s West Sea regional division said in a press release that the unnamed broker carried out over 35 ship-to-ship transfers to smuggle around 18,000 tons of diesel between Oct. 2021 and Jan. 2022.

About the Author

Shreyas Reddy

Shreyas Reddy is a correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @shreyas_k_reddy.

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