Large Ships Docking at North Korea: Possible Link to North Korea-Russia Weapon Trade

A large ship of about 328 feet in length was again spotted at the ‘China-only’ dock at North Korea’s Najin Port, which the US White House has identified as the site of munition transfer between North Korea and Russia.

According to a report by VOA on the 21st, a photo taken by the US artificial satellite ‘Planet Labs’ on the 19th (local time) confirmed the shipping containers being loaded about 328 feet in length right in front of this ship at the dock.

Based on precedents, it is presumed to be a ship that has entered this port for shipping containers.

The White House revealed satellite photos of about 300 marine transport containers around 20 feet in standard size being loaded at Najin Port, stating that North Korea provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions last October.

The White House claimed that the containers loaded at Najin Port were transported to Russian ports on Russian ships and then moved to the front lines in Ukraine by train.

It is unknown whether the large ship discovered this time entered the port to transfer containers filled with North Korean weapons, but virtually no ships had been visiting Najin Port until just before the White House identified it as a weapon trade site.

VOA estimated the number of ships that had entered this area by the end of 2023 to be 26, through the analysis of satellite images that captured Najin Port since the first ship was spotted on August 26 last year.

It also added that the fact that six ships have entered so far this year confirms that entries are continuing at a rate of one every three days.