South Korea seizes cargo ship suspected of carrying North Korean contraband

South Korea has seized a ship suspected of violating U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korean commodities such as coal and iron.

The cargo vessel Prada was held at Pyeongtaek Port, about 60 miles south of Seoul, according to a news release Thursday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The port is about 12 miles north of Camp Humphreys.

“Following the government’s investigation, Prada was found to have violated UN Security Council sanctions and has therefore been seized,” the ministry said.

The Prada entered Pyeongtaek Port in March.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 2371, adopted in 2017, states that North Korea “shall not supply, sell or transfer coal, iron, iron ore, seafood, lead and lead ore to other countries.”

Prada was among several vessels identified May 29 as alleged violators, according to a joint statement on North Korean sanctions signed by the United States, South Korea, the European External Action Service and eight other countries.

The statement called on the U.N. committee charged with enforcing sanctions to “take appropriate action on information regarding violations and to strengthen implementation of the measures it oversees.”

The statement identified five vessels that loaded coal and iron ore from North Korea and called on the committee to “swiftly designate” another seven vessels, including Prada, that “clear evidence” showed had violated the sanctions.

Beginning in September 2024, the Open Source Centre, a U.K.-based nonprofit that researches organized crime, tracked the Prada and five other vessels as they offloaded North Korean coal at Chinese ports, according to a report published May 7, 2025, on the center’s website.

The U.N. Security Council, imposing sanctions in 2017, said revenue North Korea generates from trading in commodities like coal, lead, iron ore and textiles contributes to its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Voice of America reported Wednesday that the Open Source Centre shared satellite pictures of Prada loaded with coal from Nampho, North Korea, in September and December 2024.

The Prada was built in 2008, operates under a Tanzanian flag and is owned by Zhongxiang Shipping, based in the Marshall Islands, according to the International Maritime Organization’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System.

The vessel until August 2024 sailed under the name Sophia and under China’s flag as the Hua Tai Shan until June 2020, according to the commercial ship tracking website VesselFinder.