China bans exports of 'dual use' items to North Korea

China has banned exports to North Korea of 32 "dual-use" items that can be applied in the development of weapons of mass destruction, the commerce ministry said.

The list of items, which include radiation monitoring equipment and software that can be used to model fluid dynamics or neutrons, is in line with a UN Security Council resolution adopted in September to curb North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

The ban also applies to items with potential dual use in the development of conventional weapons, according to a ministry statement published late Sunday.

The announcement comes ahead of planned nuclear summits between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of South Korea and the United States in the coming weeks.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and top trade partner, but Beijing has backed a raft of UN sanctions to put pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.

China's exports to North Korea fell 32.4 percent in February, compared to the previous year, Chinese customs data showed. Fuel exports to North Korea slowed down to a trickle in February as a result of sanctions imposed in September.

Imports from North Korea, including sea food and textiles, dropped 94.7 percent in February, as Chinese companies shied away from doing business with Pyongyang.

President Donald Trump's administration has urged China to put the economic squeeze on North Korea and seal off any smuggling channels.

In February, China said it was investigating reports that a vessel -- with Chinese characters on its hull -- had allegedly transferred cargo to a North Korean ship in the East China Sea.

It was the third time this year that Tokyo had reported a cargo transfer by a North Korean vessel in violation of UN sanctions.

Loneliness of the long distance runners in North Korea
Pyongyang (AFP) April 8, 2018 - A few hundred foreigners lined up in Kim Il Sung stadium Sunday for the Pyongyang marathon, less than half of last year's contingent with Western tourism to North Korea battered by nuclear tensions and a US travel ban.

A packed crowd in the 47,000-capacity arena cheered and applauded before the runners streamed out of the stadium beneath portraits of the North's founder and his son and successor Kim Jong Il.

The event -- part of the celebrations for the anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth in 1912 -- is normally the annual peak for Western tourism to the isolated country, offering visitors the chance to run or jog through the streets of Pyongyang.

But fears of conflict reached fresh heights last year as the North made rapid progress in its nuclear and missile ambitions under Kim Jong Un, the third member of the Kim dynasty to rule, carrying out its most powerful atomic test to date and launching rockets bringing the continental United States into range.

Several new sets of UN Security Council sanctions were imposed, and in September Washington effectively banned US citizens from visiting following the death of tourist Otto Warmbier, while several other countries stepped up their travel warnings.

The measures remain in place despite a rapid rapprochement triggered by the Winter Olympics in the South, with Kim due to meet the South's President Moon Jae-in later this month, ahead of a summit with US President Donald Trump.

A total of 429 foreign amateurs entered the Pyongyang Marathon this year, compared with more than 1,000 in 2017.

"The tourism industry in general has fallen substantially since the middle of last year," said Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, the market leader.

"All the political dramas, military crises have brought the industry down by at least half."

- Twin tourers -

Two North Korean twin sisters, Kim Hye Gyong and Kim Hye Song, took first and second in the women's race Sunday, matching each other stride for stride and gesture for gesture as they came up the finishing straight, the younger of the 25-year-olds crossing the line less than a metre ahead.

Local runners also filled the first three places in the men's race, with the first invited elite competitor, a Moroccan, trailing in fourth and observers suggesting the cold conditions -- in the single degrees Celsius -- did not favour African runners.

Australian Tracy Britten, who ran the 10 kilometre race, said doing so was "surreal".

"You just don't know what to expect, so here you are in the streets of Pyongyang running around, people are giving you a high five and it's just an incredible experience."

Western tourists to the North used to run at around 5,000 a year, with US visitors making up about 20 percent, and critics say that Pyongyang profited from their presence.

Standard one-week trips cost around $2,000, while shorter budget journeys can be less than half that price.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, had tried to steal a propaganda poster, was convicted of subversive activities and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour.

He was sent home in a mysterious coma last June, dying a few days later, with Trump tweeting that he had been "tortured beyond belief" while Pyongyang blamed botulism -- although medical examiners said he suffered brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen.

But Cockerell told AFP that on the "battlefield of soft power" Washington had inflicted "a stunning defeat on itself" with the travel ban.

"The complete absence of Americans cedes the ground to the DPRK state to present Americans any way it wants without even a few local people encountering visitors from the US and seeing what people are really like there," he said.

- 'Aura of danger' -

Young Pioneer Tours, the firm which took Warmbier to North Korea, also saw its marathon customers fall by more than half, although guide Matt Kulesza said that its overall numbers for this year were on target.

For some travellers, he said, controversy about the country "almost appeals to people", so that to some extent "all publicity is good publicity" -- although the current warming on the peninsula could change that.

"With so much positive talk of the DPRK in the media maybe that aura of mystery, that aura of danger is almost disappearing," he added.

But British television student Callum McCulloch, 23, had no doubts.

Describing Pyongyang as "like the set of a Wes Anderson film" after his half marathon, he dismissed the Foreign Office's advice against "all but essential travel" to the North.

"If someone tells you not to go somewhere, not to do something, that makes you more want to go there, surely," he said.

"It's bragging rights. My mates owe me a few pints when I get home."

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Is North Korea Preparing Controversial Satellite Launch
Moscow (Sputnik) Apr 04, 2018
As the White House and Pyongyang keep their lips sealed as to exactly when and where their respective leaders will meet, fears abound that North Korea will violate the spirit of the deal before it's even sealed. According to a US government source who spoke with The Diplomat on condition of anonymity, North Korea shipped components associated with a new satellite launch vehicle to at least within the proximity of their Sanum-dong Missile Research and Development Facility around the turn of the yea ... read more