Several members of North Korea’s oil tanker fleet changed their offloading destination in February, plying the shortest possible route from Russian terminals to the North Korean port of Sonbong, just 10 km from the Russian border.

Previous analysis by NK News indicated DPRK tankers tended to sail past the Sonbong and Rason area, more frequently taking their cargos further down the North Korean coast.

Satellite imagery shows the only oil offloading facility in the Sonbong region is connected via pipeline to the North’s Seungri oil refinery. The choice of destination is a peculiar one