NKorea hits trade record with China despite sanctions

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - North Korean coal exports to China hit a record high in August, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Friday, even though shipments should have fallen under strengthened sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council in March.

The North was hit with the bolstered package of punitive measures in response to its fourth nuclear test in January -- Pyongyang again defied the international community with its fifth and most powerful nuclear detonation to date earlier this month.

KITA’s report showed that outbound coal from North Korea to China reached 2.46 million tons, which was the biggest monthly amount since the start of related data collection in the late 1990s.

The previous record was set in March, but a fall in April suggested that Beijing was sticking to its promise to join the world in pressuring Pyongyang.

Coal exports from the North then steadily rose, however, with China expressing its displeasure about the planned deployment of a contentious American missile defense system in South Korea.

While Beijing had said it would allow trade exemptions for the sake of private domestic consumption, the jump in shipments could also be attributed to the North’s low prices -- North Korean coal was being sold by the ton for around $65 in January and that rate was down by around $20 last month.

Chinese demand for other commodities such as steel and iron ore in the North also rose in August, and pressure is building in the United States to impose more sanctions on third parties who do business with the authoritarian state.

Meanwhile, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has reportedly offered $4.1 million in aid to victims of recent flooding in North Korea, on top of $8 million in the first six months of the year.

North Korea is known to suffer from food scarcity, but more than 500 people were left dead or missing by typhoon-related rains this month and many more lost their homes based on Pyongyang’s own accounts.