South Korea announced that it has released two vessels it had seized, after suspecting they were transferring oil to North Korea. South Korea determined that was no deliberate breach of UN sanctions.
Namely, South Korea had seized four ships to see if they were breaching UN sanctions by conducting illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil or coal products to North Korean ships.
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Now, according to Reuters, a UN panel approved the release of two ships, based on South Korean probe results that they had not breached sanctions with intent. In addition, the shipping companies promised to have tracking devices on board ships at all times and provide records when necessary.
The other two vessels are still in detention.
Of the detained ships, the UN had blacklisted one for trying to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes by squeezing important fuel supplies.
In 2017, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions aiming to limit North Korea’s access to refined petroleum products and crude oil, It also slashed its exports of coal, iron and other minerals, which are considered as key sources of foreign currency.