Officials from UN maritime body visited North Korea last month for technical audit
Published: 16 Dec. 2025, 08:51
![The International Maritime Organization headquarters in London [INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/16/0bb8509c-bca9-4bea-b060-b19f5de1a0a0.jpg)
The International Maritime Organization headquarters in London [INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION]
An international maritime agency under the United Nations sent its officials to North Korea last month for a technical audit to assess the implementation of obligations as a member state, the UN website showed Tuesday.
Officials from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) visited North Korea in mid-November for the audit under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS), according to the website. North Korea has been an IMO member state since 1986.
The IMO officials met with their counterparts from the North's national maritime agency and visited several sites as part of the audit.
The visit draws attention because the North still restricts the entry of international organizations even after it eased border controls that had been placed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
North Korea appears to have allowed the IMO officials' visit as an exception as the audit is a mandatory assessment that IMO member states have to undergo every seven years. From Pyongyang's perspective, maintaining cooperation with the IMO may have been considered necessary for the regime to ensure smooth maritime operations.
It marked the first such visit by UN-affiliated personnel to enter North Korea since July last year, when a director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) visited Pyongyang.
The IMO is a specialized UN agency responsible for promoting international standards on maritime safety and protection of the maritime environment.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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