Mozambique Under Attack by US Corporate Media Over Ties to DPRK
DESPITE being hit with a raft of sanctions, North Korea is continuing to get what it wants, and certain nations are only too willing to help.
Debra Killalea and wires
news.com.au
FEBRUARY 7, 20186:42AM
A SMALL fishing port in Mozambique is being used to help North Korea dodge sanctions and generate much-needed revenue for Kim Jong-un’s regime.
A CNN investigation has revealed Mozambique’s ageing fishing vessels are actually sanction-busting trawlers with crews from North Korea.
However, fishing isn’t the only way the North is boosting state coffers.
CNN’s month-long investigation revealed there is a secret web of front companies, military co-operation and elite-forces training deals between the two nations.
It found money is being funnelled from Mozambique through regionally based North Korean diplomats to Pyongyang in a variety of ways.
The deals, worth millions of dollars, come despite tough rounds of international sanctions which are designed to punish the secretive regime for its missile tests and ongoing nuclear program.
North Korea has also been conducting military training exercises at a base in Mozambique capital Maputo, helping boost the East African country’s own capabilities.
Mozambique isn’t the only nation that has been linked to propping up the secretive regime.
Park Strategies senior vice president Sean King, an expert on Asian politics, said he was not surprised by the findings revealed in the CNN investigation.
Mr King said it was just one small way North Korea was getting around the sanctions. “This doesn’t surprise me in the least, as it’s just another example of the multinational criminal enterprise that North Korea is and has maintained all around the world for many years,” he said.
“Pyongyang also runs similar operations and fronts across Southeast Asia, such as Bangkok restaurants, and until recently, throughout Eastern and Central Europe.
“For example, a hotel in the former East Berlin, an events hall in Bulgaria and slave labour exports to Poland.”
Mr King said the fact was money is “fungible” [replaceable by another identical item].
“So even something as seemingly innocent as fish can generate much-needed hard currency to help sustain the Kim regime and fund its weapons program,” he said.
“We should thus cut off said revenues at every possible turn.”
Mr King noticed the North Koreans in the CNN video weren’t wearing Kim loyalty badges. Their not wearing the badges could be part of an effort to conceal their identities while sanctions against North Korea are in force, he suggested. They clearly didn’t seem eager to talk when media approached.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing China to take tougher action against its ally.
Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea’s foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.
China has already imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans. It has also introduced a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.
Debra Killalea and wires
news.com.au
FEBRUARY 7, 20186:42AM
A SMALL fishing port in Mozambique is being used to help North Korea dodge sanctions and generate much-needed revenue for Kim Jong-un’s regime.
A CNN investigation has revealed Mozambique’s ageing fishing vessels are actually sanction-busting trawlers with crews from North Korea.
However, fishing isn’t the only way the North is boosting state coffers.
CNN’s month-long investigation revealed there is a secret web of front companies, military co-operation and elite-forces training deals between the two nations.
It found money is being funnelled from Mozambique through regionally based North Korean diplomats to Pyongyang in a variety of ways.
The deals, worth millions of dollars, come despite tough rounds of international sanctions which are designed to punish the secretive regime for its missile tests and ongoing nuclear program.
North Korea has also been conducting military training exercises at a base in Mozambique capital Maputo, helping boost the East African country’s own capabilities.
Mozambique isn’t the only nation that has been linked to propping up the secretive regime.
Park Strategies senior vice president Sean King, an expert on Asian politics, said he was not surprised by the findings revealed in the CNN investigation.
Mr King said it was just one small way North Korea was getting around the sanctions. “This doesn’t surprise me in the least, as it’s just another example of the multinational criminal enterprise that North Korea is and has maintained all around the world for many years,” he said.
“Pyongyang also runs similar operations and fronts across Southeast Asia, such as Bangkok restaurants, and until recently, throughout Eastern and Central Europe.
“For example, a hotel in the former East Berlin, an events hall in Bulgaria and slave labour exports to Poland.”
Mr King said the fact was money is “fungible” [replaceable by another identical item].
“So even something as seemingly innocent as fish can generate much-needed hard currency to help sustain the Kim regime and fund its weapons program,” he said.
“We should thus cut off said revenues at every possible turn.”
Mr King noticed the North Koreans in the CNN video weren’t wearing Kim loyalty badges. Their not wearing the badges could be part of an effort to conceal their identities while sanctions against North Korea are in force, he suggested. They clearly didn’t seem eager to talk when media approached.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing China to take tougher action against its ally.
Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea’s foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.
China has already imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans. It has also introduced a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.
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