U.S. seizes sanctions-busting North Korean bulker

Wise Honest (Source: DOJ)

The United States has seized a sanctions-busting North Korean bulker not on the high seas, but through the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to the Department of Justice, the 27,881 dwt Wise Honest, one of North Korea’s largest bulk carriers, was used to illicitly ship coal from North Korea and to deliver heavy machinery to the DPRK. Payments for maintenance, equipment, and improvements of the Wise Honest were made in U.S. dollars through unwitting U.S. banks. This conduct violates longstanding U.S. law and United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“The Wise Honest is currently in the custody of the United States, having previously been seized pursuant to a warrant issued in the Southern District of New York,” said yesterday’s Department of Justice press release. According to media reports, it is now underway to American Samoa.

The ship had been detained by Indonesian authorities since April last year.

“This sanctions-busting ship is now out of service,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “North Korea, and the companies that help it evade U.S. and U.N. sanctions, should know that we will use all tools at our disposal — including a civil forfeiture action such as this one or criminal charges — to enforce the sanctions enacted by the U.S. and the global community. We are deeply committed to the role the Justice Department plays in applying maximum pressure to the North Korean regime to cease its belligerence.”

“Today’s civil action is the first-ever seizure of a North Korean cargo vessel for violating international sanctions,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York. “Our office uncovered North Korea’s scheme to export tons of high-grade coal to foreign buyers by concealing the origin of their ship, the Wise Honest. This scheme not only allowed North Korea to evade sanctions, but the Wise Honest was also used to import heavy machinery to North Korea, helping expand North Korea’s capabilities and continuing the cycle of sanctions evasion. With this seizure, we have significantly disrupted that cycle. We are willing and able to deploy the full array of law enforcement tools to detect, deter, and prosecute North Korea’s deceptive attempts to evade sanctions.”

Details of the sanctions busting scheme — which apparently included the use of a LinkedIn profile — were revealed in the complaint filed yesterday. An interesting appendix to the complaint is the photo shown below. Here’s how it’s described in the filing:

“On or about March 14, 2018, an Earth-observation satellite maintained by a corporate provider of various defense and aerospace products and services, took a high-resolution photograph of the location at 380 43’ 33” North latitude, and 1250 24’ 27” East longitude, which is in North Korea. The photograph, which is attached hereto as 1Exhibit B, depicts a vessel, which bears several characteristics unique to M/V Wise Honest, tied up alongside a dock. The photograph also depicts large quantities of what appears to be coal piled alongside the dock and in warehouses adjacent to it. There are also cranes and other equipment that appear consistent with what would be used to load coal into M/V Wise Honest. One of the cargo hatches of the Wise Honest is open, and appears to contain coal within the hold.”

Download the complaint HERE