North Korean Oil Smugglers Register Ships in Pacific Nations to Evade Sanctions: Report

North Korean oil smugglers have been registering their ships in Pacific nations and sailing under the flags of these nations to evade sanctions, according to former United Nations experts. There were at least 17 ships registered in the Pacific nations of Palau, Niue, Cook Islands, or Tuvalu, the U.S.-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies stated in its sanctions database that was seen by AFP. The think tank said that it had been monitoring these vessels and observed patterns of “high-risk behavior” in their operations, which could be associated with North Korea’s illegal oil supply networks. Neil Watts, a former member of the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC’s) expert panel on North Korea, said smugglers used “layers of obfuscation” to prevent investigators from recognizing their illegal operation while sailing....