At Nampo Port’s oil pier, oil pipelines are being installed, and additional storage tank is being constructed at the newly constructed Pier 5. Although UN Security Council Resolution 2397, as part of international sanctions, strictly limits North Korea’s annual import of refined petroleum to 500,000 barrels, the new pier and storage facilities allow more – or larger – tankers to dock simultaneously and enable faster offloading of greater volumes of oil from Russia. As a result, the UN sanctions’ effectiveness is expected to further diminish.

Meanwhile, the Choi Hyun destroyer, which was launched at the end of April, remains at the Nampo Shipyard, and performance evaluations mentioned by Kim Jong Un do not appear to have been conducted. Due to the recent agrounding incident involving the Kang Gun destroyer at the Chongjin Shipyard, key responsibilities – particularly those involving higher accountability – are expected to be delayed. However, at the nearby construction site ‘B’, it appears that an additional new-class destroyer is being built, as stated by Kim Jong Un.