China's jet fuel exports to N. Korea rebound: ministry
2014/11/04 13:43
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's jet fuel imports from China have begun to rebound this year unlike what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry publicly said, a South Korean official said Tuesday.
North Korea imported 13,000 tons of jet fuel from China between January and September, a sharp rise from 359 tons in the same period last year, the unification ministry official told reporters.
But the amount is still far short of past tallies: 38,000 tons in the same period of 2011 and 39,000 tons in that of 2012, he noted, citing formal data from China's customs authorities
In a media interview last week, the U.S. secretary said Beijing has ratcheted up economic pressure on Pyongyang.
"They've actually reduced the amount of jet fuel going into the country. They've put limitations on trade going into the country," he said.
The South Korean ministry official said it's unclear what data Kerry used for the assessment.
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