Paris/London/Moscow: North Korea shipped coal to Russia last year which wasthen delivered to South Korea and Japan in a likely violation of UNsanctions, three Western European intelligence sources said.

The UN Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal last Aug. 5under sanctions intended to cut off an important source of the foreigncurrency Pyongyang needs to fund its nuclear weapon and long-range missileprogrammes.

But the secretive Communist state has at least three times since thenshipped coal to the Russian ports of Nakhodka and Kholmsk, where it wasunloaded at docks and reloaded onto ships that took it to South Korea orJapan, the sources said.

A Western shipping source said separately that some of the cargoes reachedJapan and South Korea in October last year. A US security source alsoconfirmed the coal trade via Russia and said it was continuing.

“Russia`s port of Nakhodka is becoming a transhipping hub for North Koreancoal,” said one of the European security sources, who requested anonymitybecause of the sensitivity of international diplomacy around North Korea.

Russia`s mission to the United Nations informed the Security Councilsanctions committee on Nov. 3 that Moscow was complying with the sanctions.

“Russia does not buy coal from North Korea and is not a transit point forcoal deliveries to third countries,” Interfax news agency on Friday quotedan unidentified official at Russia`s embassy to North Korea as saying.

Two lawyers who specialise in sanctions law told Reuters it appeared thetransactions violated UN sanctions.

Reuters could not independently verify whether the coal unloaded at theRussian docks was the same coal that was then shipped to South Korea andJapan. Reuters also was unable to ascertain whether the owners of thevessels that sailed from Russia to South Korea and Japan knew the origin ofthe coal.

The US Treasury on Wednesday put the owner of one of the ships, the UAL JiBong 6, under sanctions for delivering North Korean coal to Kholmsk on Sept5. It was unclear which companies profited from the coal shipments.

*RUSSIA URGED “DO MORE” ON SANCTIONS*

North Korean coal exports were initially capped under a 2016 SecurityCouncil resolution that required countries to report monthly imports ofcoal from North Korea to the council`s sanctions committee within 30 daysof the end of each month.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia had not reportedany imports of North Korea coal to the committee last year.

The sanctions committee told UN member states in November that a violationoccurs when “activities or transactions prescribed by Security Councilresolutions are undertaken or attempts are made to engage in proscribedtransactions, whether or not the transaction has been completed.”

Asked about the shipments identified by Reuters, Matthew Oresman, a partnerwith law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who advises companies onsanctions, said: “Based on these facts, there appears to be a violation ofthe UN Security Council resolution by the parties involved.”

“Also those involved in arranging, financing, and carrying out theshipments could likely face US sanctions,” he said.

Asked about the shipments, a US State Department spokesperson said: “It`sclear that Russia needs to do more. All UN member states, including Russia,are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith and we expectthem all to do so.” The White House did not immediately respond to arequest for comment.

The independent panel of experts that reports to the Security Council onviolations of sanctions were not immediately available for comment.

North Korea has refused to give up the development of nuclear missilescapable of hitting the United States. It has said the sanctions infringeits sovereignty and accused the United States of wanting to isolate andstifle North Korea.

An independent panel of experts reported to the Security Council on Sept 5that North Korea had been “deliberately using indirect channels to exportprohibited commodities, evading sanctions.”

Reuters reported last month that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to NorthKorea at sea and US President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview onJan 17 that Russia was helping Pyongyang get supplies in violation of thesanctions.

The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on nine entities, 16 peopleand six North Korean ships it accused of helping the weapons programs.