US stresses commitment to combating maritime NK sanctions evasion activities

The United States on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to addressing maritime activities that evade sanctions against North Korea, as it co-hosted a maritime security conference in Cote d'Ivoire this week. The State Department reiterated the commitment after it, the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa and Cote d'Ivoire's Ministry of Transport co-hosted the Global Maritime Security and Sanctions Enforcement Conference in Abidjan on Wednesday and Thursday. The conference brought together global maritime industry leaders from 25 countries to strengthen due diligence practices, and enhance enforcement of sanctions to prevent North Korea, Iran and other countries from exploiting commercial maritime supply chains to advance proliferation activities, according to the department. "The DPRK circumvents U.S. and U.N. sanctions through the export of coal and iron ore to generate revenue to support the development of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," the department said in a media note on the conference. DPRK and WMD are short for the North's official name, the Democratic People'Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times