N. Korean, Chinese Ships Collided in Late Feb.; 20 Feared Dead Aboard Suspected Coal Smuggling Vessel

By Takashi Nakagawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

14:40 JST, March 14, 2025

SEOUL — A North Korean cargo ship collided with a Chinese vessel and sank in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula in late February, resulting in the deaths of 15 to 20 crew members, according to sources.

The sunken ship was suspected of smuggling North Korea-produced coal, said the sources knowledgeable of the Beijing-Pyongyang relationship. The export of such coal is prohibited under sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The North Korean ship is thought to have been navigating without activating its Automatic Identification System (AIS), despite poor visibility due to dense fog. The collision may have occurred because the Chinese ship could not detect the approach of the North Korean ship.

There have been many reported cases of North Korean ships navigating with their AIS switched off and transporting coal among other goods to evade sanctions.

Neither Beijing nor Pyongyang has released any information about the accident.

China, as well as North Korea, would rather not announce the incident because, by doing so, Beijing would have to admit that it turned a blind eye to Pyongyang’s sanction violation or that it failed to carry out thorough crackdowns, said the sources.