UK Royal Navy Deploys Warships To Korean Peninsula In Order To Enforce UN Sanctions

On April 16^th North Korea accused the United Kingdom (UK) of an “extremely provocative act” and an “act of war” after the UK deployed HMS Sutherland a type 23 frigate off the Korean peninsula to enforce United Nations (UN) international sanctions.

The UN’s goal is to enforce sanctions and get Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear weapons. A North Korean spokesman said that this would disrupt peace talks scheduled to take place with South Korea and that the UK is “poking into affairs that are none of their business.”

The UK is launching a total of three ships, one this month and two more later in the year. The HMS Albion is scheduled to be deployed to the region this summer while the HMS Argyll will be deployed in November or December.

These ships have the capabilities to carry out stop and search operations on any suspicious vessel. In recent months satellites and other patrol aircraft have identified several illegal transfers such as fuel. These transfers are of concern due to the fear of Pyongyang’s continuous efforts to obtain banned nuclear technology.

A spokesman from the Royal Navy said that the UK would continue to work closely with partners and allies in an effort to keep up pressure and strictly enforce existing sanctions on North Korea. The UK is not the only country patrolling the area, however. South Korean ships as well as U.S. ships are also patrolling the region in an effort to stop illegal transfers.

Despite the presence of all three nations in this region, it remains difficult to patrol such a large body of water and stop all illegal transactions. For example, in late 2017 Russian ships supplied fuel to North Korea on three separate occasions by transferring cargo at sea which was a breach of UN sanctions.

European security sources said that the Russian tanker Vityaz conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with a North Korean tanker in October of 2017. The owner of the Russian vessel denied any contact with any North Korean entities.

Attempting to stop all transactions in and out of North Korea is further complicated due to the fact that roughly three-fourths of North Korea’s trade is with China and some estimates are even higher. These transactions take place primarily over land, this is according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The UK’s deployment of ships to the Korean peninsula this year will deter some from trading with the rouge state. Ultimately, however, it will only stop a small percentage of North Koreas trade. In order to completely cut off trade going into North Korea China must stop all transactions with the country, a very unlikely outcome.