OSAKA -- Experts on North Korean issues say that simply banning port calls by the North Korean ferry Man Gyong Bong-92 would not stop shipments to the reclusive state of sensitive materials like devices that can be used for missile development.
"It's easy enough to send goods to North Korea via other countries, like China. I doubt if Japanese authorities would have found smuggled goods had the ship visited Niigata," said Lee Young Hwa, a former member of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun).
"Electronics components manufactured in South Korea and China are being brought into North Korea, making Japanese technology less vital to North Korea than it once was," said Lee, a Kansai University professor and expert on North Korea's economy. "Therefore, a coordinated effort is needed among Japan, South Korea and China to stop (shipments of) not only Japanese technology, but technology from elsewhere that could be used by the North Korean military."