North Korean cargo ship Wise Honest. Photo: Department of Justice via AP

The office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announced the federal government's seizure of a North Korean coal freighter Thursday, in a move Berman called a statement the first-ever seizure of a North Korean cargo vessel for violating international sanctions.

The announcement comes shortly after renewed tension with the U.S. and North Korean governments, following a series of missile launches by the latter. The timing of the announcement by the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office raised questions: The vessel was seized more than a year ago by Indonesian officials.

According to federal officials, the M/V Wise Honest was being used to subvert sanctions levied against the North Korean government. Beginning in 2005, the U.S. has pursued sanctions against the North Korean government over concerns about the country's development of nuclear weapons. Similarly, the United Nation's Security Council has also adopted its own sanctions.

In 2017, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted the company that owned the Wise Honest as a North Korean army subsidiary that was illegally exporting coal out of the county, in violation of sanctions. Additionally, the company ships were returning with heavy machinery, in further violations of sanctions, federal officials said.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney's involvement stems from the company's securing of payment that would be routed through the global banking system, causing banks that happened to be in the Southern District of New York to unwittingly violate the “prohibition on the export of financial services … for the benefit of North Korea,” according to the complaint.

“Our Office uncovered North Korea's scheme to export tons of high-grade coal to foreign buyers by concealing the origin of their ship, the Wise Honest,” Berman said in a statement. “This scheme not only allowed North Korea to evade sanctions, but the Wise Honest was also used to import heavy machinery to North Korea, helping expand North Korea's capabilities and continuing the cycle of sanctions evasion. With this seizure, we have significantly disrupted that cycle.”

According to the complaint, satellite imagery provided to federal authorities by a private company showed what appeared to be the Wise Honest unloading coal at an Indonesian dock in March 2018. The complaint states that the coal shipment came directly from North Korea.

The boat was seized by Indonesian Ministry of Transportation officials on April 6, 2018. Authorities in that country prosecuted and convicted the captain of the Wise Honest for falsifying documentation that claimed the cargo originated at a port in Russia.

Federal authorities were authorized by a U.S. magistrate judge's order to seize the Wise Honest in July 2018. The complaint claims the U.S. government is currently in possession of the vessel.

Information about legal representation for the defendants was not currently available.

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