Report: Russia Set Up Secret Oil Shipments to North Korea
報告稱俄羅斯秘密向朝鮮出口石油
A South Korean research group says Russia exported more oil to North Korea than previously reported.
一家韓國研究組織表示,俄羅斯向朝鮮出口的石油量超出了以往的報道。
A new report by the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies suggests Russia set up a secret trading system to get around United Nations economic sanctions on North Korea.
總部設在首爾的牙山政策研究所的一份新報告顯示,俄羅斯建立了一個秘密交易體系,以繞開聯(lián)合國對朝鮮的經濟制裁。
The report centers on the activities of Russia's Independent Petroleum Company (IPC). IPC was targeted by the U.S. Treasury Department in June 2017 for violating restrictions on oil exports to North Korea.
這份報告聚焦于俄羅斯獨立石油公司(簡稱IPC)的相關動作。該公司由于違反對朝鮮出口石油管制,于2017年6月份被美國商務部制裁。
IPC was found to have sold large amounts of oil to Russian-linked companies, the report says. Some of the companies were used to cover up the oil exports to North Korea by falsifying information about which countries the supplies were shipped to.
該報告稱,發(fā)現(xiàn)俄羅斯獨立石油公司向俄羅斯關聯(lián)公司出售了大量石油。,其中一些公司被用于掩蓋對朝鮮的石油出口,掩蓋手段是偽造運輸目的地國家的相關信息。
The report says one North Korean state company was found to have bought nearly 623,000 tons of Russian oil worth $238 million between 2015 and 2017. The Asan group said it discovered the information in Russian customs documents.
該報告稱,2015年到2017年期間發(fā)現(xiàn)一家朝鮮國營公司購買了價值2.38億美元的近62.3噸俄羅斯石油。牙山政策研究所表示,它在俄羅斯海關文件中發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些信息。
But the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul had reported only about $25 million in Russian oil sales between 2015 and 2017.
但是首爾的韓國國際貿易協(xié)會報告稱,2015年到2017年之間,俄羅斯的石油銷售額僅為2500萬美元。
The report says the U.S. State Department estimates North Korea has been importing around 4 million barrels of crude oil and 4.5 million barrels of processed oil each year. And China is North Korea's main oil supplier.
該報告稱,美國國務院估計朝鮮每年進口約400萬桶原油和450萬桶成品油。中國也是朝鮮的主要石油供應國。
Go Myong-Hyun is a North Korea expert with Asan. He says smuggling has always been an important part of cross-border trading between North Korea and its close allies. He said, "What the Chinese government - and the Russian government to a lesser extent - have been doing, is to turn a blind eye to these activities."
Go Myong-Hyun是牙山政策研究所的朝鮮問題專家。他說,走私一直是朝鮮及其親密盟友之間跨境貿易的重要組成部分。他說,“俄羅斯在較小程度上對這些活動視而不見。”
More violations of international sanctions
更多違反國際制裁的行為
The information from Asan came after a report in the Wall Street Journal accused Russia of possibly violating international sanctions another way. That report said Russia issued work permits to more than 10,000 North Korean laborers since September to work in Russia.
在《華爾街日報》的一篇報道指責俄羅斯可能以另一種方式違反國際制裁之后,傳出了 牙山政策研究所的這些信息。那篇報道稱,自9月份以來,俄羅斯向1萬多名朝鮮勞工發(fā)放了到俄羅斯打工的工作許可證。
U.N. sanctions put in place in September of 2017 ban member countries from "providing work authorization" permits to North Korean workers.
2017年9月實施的聯(lián)合國制裁禁止成員國向朝鮮勞工提供工作許可證。
Russian officials denied the newspaper report. Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said she found the story "credible." She said "reports of Russia violating U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korean laborers working abroad are deeply troubling."
俄羅斯官員否認了這篇報道。上周,美國駐聯(lián)合國大使黑利表示,她發(fā)現(xiàn)這篇報道可信。她說,“俄羅斯違反聯(lián)合國安理會關于朝鮮勞工出國打工決議的報道令人深感不安。”
In December of 2017, the U.N. Security Council strengthened the sanctions. They cut North Korean oil imports by about one third, while placing a total export ban on coal and other mineral industries. The sanctions also affected $800 million in North Korean clothing manufacturing, as well as the country's seafood industry.
2017年12月,聯(lián)合國安理會加強了制裁。安理會將朝鮮的石油進口量削減了約1/3,同時全面禁止煤炭和其它礦產行業(yè)出口。該制裁還影響到了朝鮮價值8億美元的的服裝制造業(yè)以及海鮮行業(yè)。
There are signs the international sanctions have severely harmed North Korea's economy over the past year. The Bank of Korea has estimated the sanctions banned about 90 percent of the country's trade.
有跡象表明,國際制裁在過去一年里嚴重損害了朝鮮經濟。據(jù)韓國銀行估計,這些制裁禁止了該國約90%的貿易。
The restrictions aim to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to work toward denuclearization during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.
這些限制旨在迫使朝鮮放棄其核武器和導彈計劃。朝鮮領導人金正恩6月份在新加坡與美國總統(tǒng)川普會晤時承諾努力實現(xiàn)無核化。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
喬納森·埃文斯報道。
A South Korean research group says Russia exported more oil to North Korea than previously reported.
A new report by the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies suggests Russia set up a secret trading system to get around United Nations economic sanctions on North Korea.
The report centers on the activities of Russia’s Independent Petroleum Company (IPC). IPC was targeted by the U.S. Treasury Department in June 2017 for violating restrictions on oil exports to North Korea.
IPC was found to have sold large amounts of oil to Russian-linked companies, the report says. Some of the companies were used to cover up the oil exports to North Korea by falsifying information about which countries the supplies were shipped to.
The report says one North Korean state company was found to have bought nearly 623,000 tons of Russian oil worth $238 million between 2015 and 2017. The Asan group said it discovered the information in Russian customs documents.
But the Korea International Trade Association in Seoul had reported only about $25 million in Russian oil sales between 2015 and 2017.
The report says the U.S. State Department estimates North Korea has been importing around 4 million barrels of crude oil and 4.5 million barrels of processed oil each year. And China is North Korea’s main oil supplier.
Go Myong-Hyun is a North Korea expert with Asan. He says smuggling has always been an important part of cross-border trading between North Korea and its close allies. He said, “What the Chinese government - and the Russian government to a lesser extent - have been doing, is to turn a blind eye to these activities."
More violations of international sanctions
The information from Asan came after a report in the Wall Street Journal accused Russia of possibly violating international sanctions another way. That report said Russia issued work permits to more than 10,000 North Korean laborers since September to work in Russia.
U.N. sanctions put in place in September of 2017 ban member countries from “providing work authorization” permits to North Korean workers.
Russian officials denied the newspaper report. Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said she found the story “credible.” She said “reports of Russia violating U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korean laborers working abroad are deeply troubling.”
In December of 2017, the U.N. Security Council strengthened the sanctions. They cut North Korean oil imports by about one third, while placing a total export ban on coal and other mineral industries. The sanctions also affected $800 million in North Korean clothing manufacturing, as well as the country’s seafood industry.
There are signs the international sanctions have severely harmed North Korea’s economy over the past year. The Bank of Korea has estimated the sanctions banned about 90 percent of the country’s trade.
The restrictions aim to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to work toward denuclearization during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
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Words in This Story
sanction – n. an order given to limit or stop trade under international law
barrel – n. large container used as a form of measurement
crude – adj. unprocessed; untreated
smuggling – n. to take something into or out of a place in an illegal or secret way
authorization – n. official permission for something
credible – adj. able to be trusted or believed