Company director charged with helping firm provide flag registration services for UN-sanctioned North Korea-linked ship

The man had allegedly registered the vessel PETREL 8 under the flag of Niue from May 18, 2022 to Aug 18, 2022.

SINGAPORE: A ship management company director was charged on Friday (Jul 31) for allegedly providing flag registration services to a vessel designated by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for transporting prohibited items from North Korea.

David Chong Kwok Yong, 49, was charged with one count of abetting Niue Ship Registry by intentionally assisting the company to provide the flag registration services for the vessel PETREL 8.

Chong, a Singaporean, allegedly registered the vessel under the flag of Niue, a Polynesian island in the South Pacific, from May 18, 2022 to Aug 18, 2022 and purportedly had reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel was involved in transporting prohibited items from North Korea. Nieu is a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand.

According to records from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Nieu Ship Registry was incorporated in 2002, with its principal activities listed as providing ship management and freight services.

Chong is listed as both its director and managing director.

In a statement on Thursday, the police said the United Nations (Sanctions – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) Regulations 2010 under the United Nations Act 2001 gives effect to sanctions imposed by the UNSC on North Korea to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

This includes prohibitions against the provision of services for vessels where there are reasonable grounds to believe the vessels are or were involved in activities that support the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by North Korea.

"Singapore takes its international obligations under UNSC Resolutions seriously and is committed to implementing them fully. The police will not hesitate to take action against any individual or entity that breaches Singapore’s laws and regulations," they said.

During the court hearing on Friday, Chong did not indicate if he was pleading guilty. He is out on bail and will return to court next month.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000 (US$387,000), or both.