Refer Report
Police officers walk around Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, in August. AP Yonhap News
Japanese police have arrested three people, including the head of an import and sales company, without detention on charges of illegally importing and selling seaweed from North Korea, a country subject to trade sanctions, local public broadcaster NHK and other sources reported on the 5th.
They are accused of illegally importing North Korean oysters via South Korea in 2020 and selling them as Russian products. The Japanese government has banned imports and exports as part of its independent sanctions against North Korea for developing nuclear weapons and missiles.
Local police believe that there is a possibility that funds flowed into North Korea through the illegal import and sale of sea cucumbers. The Sankei Shimbun pointed out that in the past, North Korean seafood was distributed in Japan while disguising its place of origin, becoming a source of funds for the North Korean military and secret agencies.
North Korea has been focusing on the fishing industry to earn foreign currency, but it is known to have suffered economic damage as fishery product exports were blocked after the first nuclear test in 2006 and economic sanctions by the United Nations Security Council were imposed.
NHK reported that Yamaguchi Prefectural Police plan to transfer the case to prosecutors as early as today.
Previously, Japanese police began investigating this case in December 2022, and raided dozens of businesses across several prefectures, including Tokyo, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Saitama, and Ibaraki.
Source: Korean