Image taken from Pixabay (generic photo of an oil tanker)

Kaohsiung, Feb. 1 (CNA) A second Taiwanese man is suspected of selling oil to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions imposed on Pyongyang last year, after a similar case earlier this year, an official from the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office said on Thursday.

Kaohsiung's chief prosecutor Ko Kuang-hui (葛光輝) revealed that an ongoing investigation into alleged sales of oil to North Korea by Taiwan nationals uncovered evidence that a man surnamed Chuang (莊) engaged in the illegal sale of oil to North Korea sometime at the end of last year.

This news comes a few weeks after prosecutors placed Taiwan national Chen Shih-hsien (陳世憲) and his overseas companies on a sanctions list for suspected involvement in a similar oil trade with Pyongyang.

Chen later allegedly attempted suicide and denied having any business with North Korea to the press on leaving hospital.

In Thursday's announcement, Ko said that Chuang claimed during questioning to have been unaware the buyer was North Korea, but suspicious behavior involving ownership of the company that chartered the vessel has led police to doubt the veracity of his statements.

According to Ko, many related documents were inaccurately filled out, including an application for a port call which listed the previous owner as the vessel's owner rather than Chuang, and export sheets that showed Hong Kong as the destination, not the East China Sea where prosecutors say the trade was conducted

Chuang has been released after posting bail of NT$2 million (US$68,552) and has been barred from leaving the country.

(By Chen Ja-fo and Kuan-lin Liu)
Enditem/AW