Sea transportation at North Korea’s Rajin Port, which has been identified as a site for arms trading between North Korea and Russia, appears to have resumed after about a month.
NK News, an American media specializing in North Korea, reported on the 12th that a ship matching the Russian ship Lady R was spotted at Pier 1 of Rajin Port, North Korea, based on the results of analyzing satellite photos taken of the area on the 10th.
This ship appeared to be carrying a blue object that appeared to be a container imported from Russia. Additionally, containers believed to have arrived by train from North Korea were detected at Pier 2 between the 8th and 9th.
Russian ships have been unloading containers at Pier 1 and then picking them up at Pier 2 and delivering them to Russia.
It has been about a month since the 12th of last month that a Russian ship appeared at Rajin Port. Lady R loaded her containers at Rajin Port on the 4th of last month and returned, and another Russian ship, ‘Maia-1’, was last seen unloading containers at Pier 1 of Rason Port on the 12th of the same month. It didn’t work.
Four Russian cargo ships, including Lady R, Maia-1, Angara, and Maria, are designated as targets of U.S. sanctions on the grounds that North Korea supplies weapons to Russia. They are known to have headed to North Korea 32 times since August of last year.
There was also analysis that there may have been a disruption in North Korea’s supply of Russian weapons via sea. It was also raised that North Korea had difficulty producing weapons, that the deal was halted due to other logistics problems, or that weapons were transported by air or rail.
NK News said that ships presumed to be Maia-1 and Maria were believed to be anchored east of Vladivostok as of the 10th, and predicted that these ships could also return to North Korea within a few weeks.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.