A North Korean freighter which last week visited a Chinese coal handling terminal returned to the same facility within a week, the NK Pro ship tracker shows, continuing a recent uptick in DPRK traffic to nearby Chinese ports capable of handling sanctioned materials.

The DPRK-flagged Kum Ya left China’s Longkou port on May 28 headed for the North’s western coast, though ceased broadcasting its location or moved out of signal range around 150km from the North Korean shoreline.

After a four-day absence, the 6800-tonne cargo ship returned to the same Chinese pier, following a