[단독] It wasn’t export ship Even get permission to export weapons

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POSCO explained to the deal as “not just selling warships, but just selling ships similar to private merchant ships.”

If this clarification makes sense, we checked, and it turned out that the Korean government even sold arms export licenses.

Subsequently, Nam Sang-ho is waiting.

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In February 2017, the United Nations Office for Human Rights issued a report that the Myanmar military committed genocide and mass rape against the Rohingya minority ethnic group.

The condemnation of the international community has risen.

Between 2018 and 2019, the U.S. froze the assets of Myanmar’s military leaders and banned them from entering the country, and the European Union banned the export of weapons to Myanmar.

POSCO’s export of warships took place at this very time.

[김기남/변호사]

“The fact that the LPD (landing transport ship), which is a strategic material, passed to the Myanmar Navy, is in itself a violation of international standards related to human rights.”

Why did POSCO act on behalf of the Myanmar military to purchase warships?

POSCO said, “We sold multi-purpose support vessels similar to private commercial ships, not warships.” The buyer was only the Myanmar military,” he explained.

In short, it just sold the ship, which means that the Myanmar military used it as a warship.

However, as a result of the interviews, it was revealed that in 2018, while contracting a warship, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration even received permission to export military supplies.

It means that POSCO couldn’t have known it was a warship.

In response, POSCO said, “We followed the procedure and exported.”

However, it seems difficult to avoid criticism for helping the Myanmar military, which is receiving international criticism.

The South Korean government began banning the export of military supplies to Myanmar on March 12, following the coup.

Korea is a country that has ratified the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which bans the sale of weapons to countries that commit massacres or human rights violations.

This is Sangho Nam of MBC News.

(Video editing: Dongwon Wi)

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