North Korea sanctions rattle Russian, Chinese businesses

Nikkei ^ | September 23, 2017 | TAKAYUKI TANAKA

[TigerLikesRooster]

North Korea sanctions rattle Russian, Chinese businesses

Vladivostok shuts out infamous North Korean ferry under US pressure

TAKAYUKI TANAKA, Nikkei staff writer

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- As the U.S. exerts more pressure on Pyongyang, economic exchanges between Russia and North Korea, which the government of Vladimir Putin had sought to use as a diplomatic bargaining chip, are beginning to ebb.

In late August, Vladivostok in Russia's Far East suspended service on the Mangyongbong, a North Korean ferry and cargo ship. The ship started service to Vladivostok in May, making one round-trip per week from the port of Rajin in Rason, in northeastern North Korea. Now the ship remains moored at Rajin.

The trouble begin in July, when the Vladivostok port operator announced a usage fee hike, according to InvestStroyTrest, the Russian company that operates the ferry. Negotiations dragged on about payment, and the ferry eventually lost approval.

Mikhail Khmel, deputy director of InvestStroyTrest, said the fee increase was intended to exclude the North Korean ship so the port does not become a target of U.S. sanctions in the future.

Traders get cold feet

The ferry company this month sent a letter to Yury Trutnev, Russia's deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, to get the service resumed. It has yet to receive a response. The Consulate-General of North Korea in Vladivostok has also written the head of the local government to ask for service resumption, according to a Russian news agency.

The opening of this new route -- to transport goods, tourists and North Korean laborers -- drew much attention from the international community. The U.S. and Japan condemned it as a loophole to escape U.N.-imposed sanctions on the North.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[DIRTYSECRET]

Rattle? Give us all a break. A drop in the bucket for effect.

[vooch]

munchikin blew it - SWIFT is dead

[caww]

Smart move on both Russia and China’s part.....Putin and Trump meeting sometime in November, and with all the Russian hoop-lah I don’t imagine Putin wants anything more disturbing those waters until at least then....and we’ll likely know more by then of how FatBoy’s fairing...Winters coming!

[caww]

Actually it’s a big deal.....if the ships and trains aren’t running then that bites pretty dang hard with winter coming.
This is almost a full economic embargo.....their gas prices are already up 43% and rising.....the elites in Fat Boys city aren’t going to hold out on all their goodies for long...Christmas Bonus’s and perks are huge for them...and they Expect them. They actually compete with each other and every year Fat Boy has to dish out ore than the previous.

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[DoughtyOne]

To my way of thinking, if there are any U.S. ships in the region that could help defray a loss of business, more power to them.

Frequent the port if it can benefit both parties.

[caww]

[Widget Jr]

The two countries that have the largest banks and the greatest assets are the U.S. and China. Both have cut off North Korea from their banks. The DPRK is now financially isolated form the rest of the world.

Russia's actions are more important than what their diplomats say. By cutting trade with North Korea, Putin is not just signaling displeasure. He's showing that if a fight breaks out Russia wants out of it.

[aposiopetic]

Belated welcome to FR.

I hope you're right that Putin wants no part in a conflict involving the DPRK.

[LeoWindhorse]

Put a 50 Mil contract out on KJU and let human nature take its course

[caww]

[caww]

In addition to the recent sanctions....I’ve found this news of how the sanctions are moving...already cutting 90% of their trade....

.....North Korea has protested to three international sporting federations that requests to buy sports equipment for its athletes were being ‘denied’ due to U.S.-led sanctions...

.....Following is a list of those countries that have expelled North Korean diplomats following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test:
SPAIN, September 18, 2017 ...KUWAIT, September 17, 2017 ...PERU, September 11, 2017 ...MEXICO, September 7, 2017 ...EGYPT, September 12, 2017 ...PHILIPPINES, September 8, 2017 ..UGANDA, May 29, 2016

[TigerLikesRooster]

I was actually surprised that so many countries has been having diplomatic relation with N. Korea. I thought they only had presence in a small number of traditional allies and some tiny countries.

[Paladin2]

Who supplies NORK’s Rocket Fuel?

[Widget Jr]

Thanks for the welcome.

Regarding Putin:

1. South Korea's GDP is 11th place world wide, Russia's is 12th.
2. Russia is already involved in the Ukraine and Syria. South Korea has been preparing for NK for 60 years.
3. Russia has geographically limited access to NK, and is in fact closing off Vladivostok's port.
4. NK is not as important to Russia as it once was.
5. Russia no longer has any military advantage in fight on or near the Korea peninsula.

Putin is shrewd enough to know when fold and get out of the saloon.

[Redwood71]

Good. Maybe they will get off their keysters and do something positive to stop the little toad.

rwood

[caww]

Well it’s been said that even if Pyongyang’s access to rare prepellant is cut, it may be too late, say intelligence officers....US intelligence agencies believe initially it came from China and Russia...US government is scrambling to determine whether those two countries are still providing the ingredients.

http://m.todayonline.com/world/asia/source-n-koreas-potent-missile-fuel-mystery

[caww]

Here’s a better article on the fuel....could be they make it themselves...reading down page further gets pretty interesting..

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/world/asia/north-korea-rocket-fuel-missiles.html