North Korean ships that have conducted illicit trade of materials sanctioned by the United Nations, mostly with China, are reportedly now idle in their home ports amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Citing satellite-image analysis by London-based Royal United Services Institute(RUSI) and its own separate analysis on Monday, The New York Times said 139 ships were idle in the North's key western port region of Nampo on March 3, up from 50 a month earlier.
The fleet included vessels previously implicated in sanctions evasion operations, including the oil tanker New Regent, which the UN spotted making unreported deliveries as recently as January 2020, and twice in 2019.
The Times assessed that the recall of the ships is part of Pyongyang's border closures, which began on January 22 when Chinese authorities announced the shutdown of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
It said the pandemic has managed to choke the North's economy by stopping its trafficking of coal and other goods, which the Donald Trump administration has failed to achieve through its "maximum pressure" campaign against the regime's nuclear and missile programs.
Meanwhile, experts forecast the pandemic will take its toll on the North Korean economy, with both restrictions on the regime's legitimate trade and illicit fuel imports affecting its agricultural and industrial sectors.