Taiwan court sentences ex-legislator's son for illegal fuel transfers to North Korea

Published on 20/08/2025 - 18:10 GMT+2

The boy of a erstwhile Taiwanese legislator has been sentenced to much than 2 years successful situation for a strategy that illegally supplied thousands of tons of substance lipid to North Korea.

Huang Chung-wei was sentenced to 28 months successful situation by nan territory tribunal successful nan confederate larboard metropolis of Kaohsiung connected Tuesday. Five others besides received situation terms.

They were convicted of taking portion successful loading nan substance onto ships successful Taiwan and making nan transfers successful collaboration pinch Kwek Kee Seng, a Singaporean businessman wanted by nan US whose whereabouts were unknown.

Such activity is simply a usurpation of Taiwan's Counter-Terrorism Financing Act and different statutes, nan tribunal said.

Illegal transfers astatine oversea are 1 of nan fewer ways North Korea, mostly isolated from nan world community, tin get substance because of strict United Nations sanctions against its atomic weapons and rocket programmes.

While Taiwan is not a UN personnel astatine nan insistence of North Korea’s state China, it has pledged to travel each of nan world body's rulings connected Pyongyang.

The lawsuit against Huang dates backmost to 2019, erstwhile he and Kwek allegedly purchased a fleet of tankers, loaded them pinch substance and sent them to make nan transfers.

North Korea is known to run a "shadow fleet" of ships operating without progressive physics recognition equipment.

However, US intelligence agencies were capable to way nan transfers by outer and provided nan accusation to Kaohsiung investigators, nan tribunal said.

Huang's begetter was a personnel of Taiwan's legislature for nan ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

It wasn't clear really overmuch money he made from nan strategy aliases whether he would entreaty nan sentence.