On 38 North Joseph DeThomas analyzes the results of increasing sanctions on North Korea, and the Executive Summary is that “The DPRK [North Korea] Wins This Round“. But, for folks who particularly loathe North Korea, this may be of interest:
Exports of Coal
Perhaps even more important, the DPRK is exporting large quantities of coal. Coal exports were estimated to have reached 3.7 million tons from January to August 2019, with three-quarters of those exports taking place between May and August. The value of these shipments was estimated at $370 million—all of it contrary to UN sanctions and all of it off the official trade books. The Panel had satellite imagery indicating that coal shipments were continuing at the end of 2019. The DPRK’s techniques for evasion were diverse. Much of the coal was sent from Nampo or Songrim (Songnim) in North Korean vessels and then transferred ship-to-ship to Chinese local barges. But here, too, the DPRK and its foreign partners are becoming more efficient and less discrete. Coal is now being shipped from North Korea directly to several Chinese ports in large self-propelled barges of a type not known to be in the North Korean inventory but which are quite commonly used in China. The DPRK has also begun to ship directly to China in large bulk carriers, including a “ghost ship.” It appears to have purchased a ship destined to be scrapped. On the official books, the vessel has been dismantled, but it is continuing to ship coal.
If there’s one thing that’ll shut down illicit coal exports and the money that accompanies it, it’s lack of demand. Coal, one of the greatest polluting fossil fuels, a disaster during production as well as consumption, is on its way out as fracking has reduced the cost of natural gas, thus motivating the use of same for power in place of coal. Not attractive on the environmental or financial fronts, its potential to generate jobs for miners who take great pride in their jobs – it may be closer to religious fervor in some cases – is currently its last line.
Conservatives, who generally deeply dislike North Korea, should sit up, take note, and turn to the job of shutting down demand for coal. True, some consumers, such as China, are difficult to dissuade, but others may be less stubborn. This is a lever conservatives should be grasping and manipulating, not only as a way to give North Koreans another reason to boot out the autocrats in Pyongyang, but as one step on the way to regaining a healthy environment we critically need, and to conform to economic principles.
Rarely are there so many positives to a potential action in the international order.
