North Korea's sanctioned coal trade rebounds as UN monitoring lapses

North Korea's sanctioned coal and mineral exports have rebounded amid an absence of United Nations oversight, sustained by forced labour and a shipping network that runs through China and Russia, a Seoul-based human rights group said on Tuesday.



The Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), in a report with British research group Data Desk, alleges the trade has accelerated since March 2024, when Russia vetoed the renewal of the independent UN panel that monitored Pyongyang's sanctions compliance.



Drawing on satellite imagery, the group counted large ships visible at five major North Korean ports and found their number rose nearly fivefold to 3,756 in 2025 from 783 in 2019. The count covers all cargo ships that have the capacity to carry other goods like iron and weapons, not just coal.