U.S. sanctions two Chinese firms for illicit trade with N. Korea

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Thursday (local time) it designated Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding Co., Ltd. for helping North Korea evade sanctions by exporting Mercedes-Benz limousines, which has carried North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his overseas trips.

The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea has recently released an annual report of the panel of experts, which said that the panel was investigating the Chinese company for an alleged transfer of Mercedes-Benz limousines. The panel said that it observed these luxury cars during meetings in Singapore, Beijing and Pyongyang.

In the report, the panel said that Chinese businessman George Ma led the shipment of vehicles from the Port of Long Beach in California to the Chinese port of Dalian. From there, the cars were apparently shipped in Liaoning Danxing’s containers to the North Korean port of Nampo. George Ma is known to have operated “Seajet International,” which has ties to North Korea’s Air Koryo national airline.

On the same day, the OFAC also sanctioned the Dalian Haibo International Freight Co., Ltd., which is accused of supplying goods to an OFAC sanctioned, North Korean company called Paeksol Trading Corporation. The Chinese company was established in 2011.

Dalian is home to a number of Chinese firms suspected of engaging in illicit trade practices by the United Nations Security Council and the United States.


Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com