Beijing to inspect all air cargo from and to North Korea

China is strengthening sanctions on cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea and even air to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270.

　

A source from Beijing said on Thursday that the Chinese government notified the airport immigration office of 16 North Koreans including Ri Man Gon, the Minister of the Munitions Industry Department of North Korean Workers’ Party, to ban their entry into China.

The Chinese airport customs office is said to conduct an inspection into all cargo carried by regularly scheduled flights of Air Koryo, North Korea’s flagship carrier, in the near future. The U.N. Security Council resolution mandates all U.N. member countries to inspect cargo within or transiting through their territory – including airports, sea ports and free trade zones – that was destined for or originating from North Korea. If China implements the resolution and increases the scope of the sanctions to flights, Pyongyang would be under greater pressure.

The Panel of Experts of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Sanctions Committee of the U.N. Security Council said in a report released on Wednesday that the trucks used to carry 300 millimeter-rockets in its military parade in Oct. 10, last year are almost the same as those made by a Chinese manufacturer.

베이징=구자룡특파원 bonhong@donga.com