Vessels that are illegally transporting North Korean coal have been making repeated port calls in Japan,... in a possible bid to evade UN sanctions on the regime.
According to Tokyo-based Kyodo News on Sunday,... such vessels have made over 100 port calls in the country since the UN Security Council banned North Korean coal exports in August 2017.
The report adds the vessels,... many of which are Panamanian-flagged,... visited Russia and China before or after arriving in northern and northeastern Japan,... in order to disguise the origin of their cargo.