It was the first time the United States has seized a North Korean cargo vessel for international sanctions violations, the Justice Department said. Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, abruptly ended their second meeting earlier this year when Trump refused to ease sanctions unless the North dismantled all of its nuclear weapons. Prosectors said the ship was used in a North Korean scheme to export tons of coal to foreign countries and to import heavy machinery in violation of international sanctions. Indonesian authorities detained the ship in April 2018 after it was photographed at a North Korean port, loading onto the ship what prosecutors said appeared to be coal. The UN Security Council has imposed five rounds of sanctions against North Korea since early 2016, when Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test.

Source: bd News24 May 09, 2019 18:11 UTC