OPINION | China is not a partner of the U. S. to counter the North Korea. Until it is, we must treat it accordingly.
China announced on Feb. 18 that it would stop all coal imports from North Korea. Analysts greeted the news with optimism, suggesting it improves prospects for a U. S.-North Korea nuclear deal or was an attempt by Beijing to curry favor with the Trump administration.
China, however, should not be applauded for doing what it has already promised the international community, and ultimately must do more to address the threat of North Korea’s nuclear program and missiles.
The cap restricted Pyongyang from exporting coal amounting to more than one million metric tons or worth $53.5 million for that month — whichever was lower. For its part, Beijing imported more than double the allowed amount and more than triple the value.
In November 2016 the U. N. also imposed a cap on North Korea’s coal exports for 2017 at 7.5 million tons or $400 million, whichever is lower. In February 2017 China reported to the U. N. that it had imported just over 19 percent of the allowable 2017 imports in January alone. China’s foreign ministry also stated this week that imports were approaching the value limit for 2017. Beijing far exceeded the December 2016 numbers, and the 2017 numbers will likely exceed the cap as well.
China’s accelerated imports of North Korean coal are suspicious, and Washington should question its motives.
Ultimately, Beijing’s moves must be viewed in the context of its aggressive policy toward South Korea, as it consistently forces Seoul to choose between defending itself against the threat from the north and access to the Chinese market.
During Defense Secretary James Mattis’ trip to Seoul this month, South Korea committed to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to counter North Korea’s missile program (China does not want the U. S. using the radar to provide early warning for Chinese missile strikes).
South Korea’s Lotte Group — a large retail firm — is involved in the THAAD deployment through the government’s plan to station the system on the firm’s land. China’s state media on Monday threatened Lotte with severe consequences if it follows through on the plans.
Beijing has also halted the construction of a real estate project tied to the company and subjected its 120 retail stores to unnecessary fire inspections or tax investigations. South Korea’s Korea Institute for National Unification tallied 43 Chinese actions since July 2016 to pressure Seoul into canceling the THAAD deployment. Since December 2016, Beijing has also limited charter flights from the country.
Moreover, North Korea violates U. N. and U. S. sanctions with the direct assistance of Chinese nationals, likely with Beijing’s approval.
For example, the Justice Department found that from August 2009 to September 2015 Chinese nationals had used 22 front companies to open Chinese bank accounts to conduct dollar transactions through the U. S. financial system when completing sales to Pyongyang. Beijing arrested 10 people and froze the assets of those involved, but not a single Chinese bank was penalized for this illicit North Korean activity.
If China wants to increase pressure on North Korea beyond the coal ban, it should do three things.
First, announce an investigation into Chinese banks assisting North Korea’s financial activities in violation of U. N. and U. S. sanctions. As the Treasury Department has noted , North Korea’s access to American banking is “a threat to the integrity of the U. S. financial system” itself.
If Beijing claims to be a partner in Washington’s efforts to confront North Korea, it can prove it through cooperation between U. S. and Chinese financial experts.
Second, Beijing should extradite its four nationals accused of violating multiple U. S. sanctions for the benefit of North Korea, thereby demonstrating it will not shield its nationals who circumvent U. S. or U. N. sanctions.
Third, China — and the U. S. — should support U. N. sanctions against front companies and individuals that North Korea uses overseas to further its proliferation and illicit activities and human rights abuses.
If China is unwilling to take these steps, the United States should enact robust measures against Beijing. It should start with substantial fines against, or the designation of, Chinese banks assisting North Korea. Washington should also call Beijing’s bluff and force it to veto new U. N. designations of North Korean front companies and individuals.
China is not a partner in U. S. efforts to counter the North Korean nuclear and missile threat, and until it is, we must treat it accordingly. A porous ban on coal imports does little to change that.
Anthony Ruggiero is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and formerly a foreign policy fellow for Senator Marco Rubio Marco Rubio Trump pitches 37 percent cut to State Department budget GOP senator: Trump budget ‘dead on arrival’ China’s ‘ban’ on North Korean coal isn’t the tough stance it seems MORE and an official at the Departments of the Treasury and State. Follow him on Twitter @_ARuggiero.
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The officials were executed by anti-aircraft guns, according to lawmakers briefed by South Korea’s intelligence service.
The deputy minister-level officials had worked under the recently fired state security chief Kim Won Hong, and are believed to have been executed for making false reports to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to two parliamentarians who had been briefed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“Kim Won Hong, the state security chief, is in a house arrest situation after an investigation and more than five deputy minister-level officials who worked under him have been executed by anti-aircraft guns,” South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said.
“Additional executions of working-level officials could happen as the investigation carries on further. ”
The State Security Ministry of North Korea is effectively its intelligence service, and also runs its prison camps and conducts domestic surveillance of party workers and other citizens.
‘False reports’
“The ministry controls and monitors the public and party officials. It was detected that false reports were made for Kim Jong Un,” Lee Cheol-woo, another lawmaker who was present, added.
“Kim Jong Un was furious by this finding and put Kim Won Hong in a house arrest and ordered execution of his five people. ”
He said the dictator also ordered the removal of a statue of his father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, from the Ministry’s grounds as punishment.
“Kim Jong Un ordered the statue of Kim Jong Il to be removed from the National Defense Ministry because they don’t deserve to have the statue. ”
Although Pyongyang officially denies the prison camps exist, according to a US Treasury statement, Kim Won Hong directed and managed activities including “beatings, forced starvation, sexual assault, forced abortions, and infanticide” that took place in the system of prison camps.
The Ministry for State Security reports directly to Kim.
Removed from office
In January, Kim fired Kim Won Hong , one of his top lieutenants, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
As Minister of State Security, Kim Won Hong oversaw the North Korean agency responsible for running the country’s notorious prison camps, rooting out spies in North Korea and conducting counterespionage operations abroad.
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said Kim Won Hong was punished for “human rights abuses committed during interrogations at the State Security Department” among other things.
Report: Hundreds executed
A report released at the end of 2016 claims Kim has ordered 340 people to be executed since he came to power in 2011.
The Institute for National Security Strategy, a South Korean think tank’s report, “The misgoverning of Kim Jong Un’s five years in power,” details how the North Korean leader uses executions to tighten his hold on power.
Of those killed, about 140 were senior officers in the country’s government, military and ruling Korean Worker’s Party.
The gruesome method of execution has also been used by the regime before — in May 2015, Kim had his Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol killed with an anti-aircraft gun at a military school in Pyongyang, in front of an audience.
“(It) would have torn his body apart,” RAND Corporation senior defense analyst Bruce Bennett told CNN at the time. “And of course Kim made sure the Defense Minister’s family was there to see the execution. ”
Kim Jong Un — madman or mastermind?

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