Singaporean jailed for selling strawberry milk, coffee to North Korea

Agencies | New Delhi                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

A Singaporean man has been jailed for selling strawberry milk and coffee worth nearly 1 million dollars to North Korea . The move comes following other sanctions-busting trades that have included sending wine, whisky, and perfume to Pyongyang from Singapore.

North Korea has been hit with a barrage of sanctions, including from the United Nations, over its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Singapore had suspended trade ties with the country earlier in 2017.

Phua Sze Hee (59) a former manager at beverage company Pokka International , was sentenced to five weeks in jail after he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Between 2017-2018 Hee sold beverages including strawberry-flavored milk and coffee drinks to several Singapore companies despite being fully aware that they would be exported to North Korea for sale there.

Court documents have said that while he did not earn any commission from the sales it allowed him to meet his monthly sales targets. Hee had met "one Mr Kim , who was working as an ambassador in the North Korean Embassy in Singapore" and was later introduced to another employee at the embassy in 2014.

The maximum punishment for exporting goods from Singapore to North Korea is a fine of up to SG $100,000 or three times the value of the goods exported, up to two years in jail, or both, reported AFP.

Notably, there have been several cases of individuals and companies being prosecuted for supplying banned goods to North Korea. Earlier this year two Singaporean companies were charged earlier this year with exporting whisky, wine and other drinks to North Korea.