Vessels that appear to be directly controlled by North Korea are making use of South Korean ports and waterways, using numerous techniques to skirt around measures put in place after the sinking of the Cheonan in 2010, an NK News investigation can reveal.

Trade interactions between the two Koreas should be almost non-existent after former President Lee Myong Bak issued the May 4 sanctions.

“Under these circumstances, any inter-Korean trade or other cooperative activity is meaningless,” Lee said in 2010, before also adding North Korean ships would not be allowed to use South Korean waters.

Analysis