A ship which was recently removed from the UN’s blacklist of 31 DPRK associated vessels was allowed to leave the Philippines on Thursday, were it was held since shortly after the passage of UN Resolution 2270 on March 2.

The Jin Teng was seized in accordance with the new resolution, due to its supposed ties to Ocean Maritime Management (OMM), a North Korean shipping company involved in weapons smuggling.

But pressure from Beijing led to four vessels being removed from the blacklist, after the UN Security Council (UNSC) said they had received further evidence dissolving the ties to OMM.

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