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Joe
Byrne

Research Analyst

Joe Byrne is a Research Analyst at RUSI’s Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Team. His research interests include Open Source Intelligence and Analysis and Illicit Shipping Networks. Prior to joining RUSI in 2019, Joe worked at King’s College London research department Project Alpha and also at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Joe holds an MA in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London.

Joe
Byrne
Research Analyst

Contact Details

RUSI Whitehall

Research Focus

Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Al-Qa'ida, Pacific Non-proliferation, Open Source Intelligence and Illicit Shipping

By This Author

"But a report published this month by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think-tank, found that a network of 150 Chinese businesses had a central role in facilitating North Korean access to international markets. It said they were involved in about $2.7bn worth of shipments between 2014 and 2017, representing about 20 per cent of the $13.9bn value of North Korea’s trade during that period. "

Kim Jong Un’s dependence on China grows as virus hits economy

9 September 2020

Tags: Project Sandstone

Bridge across the river bordering North Korea and China

Project Sandstone Report 7: The Billion-Dollar Border Town: North Korea's Trade Networks in Dandong (Part 1)

4 September 2020

This report analyses North Korea's trade networks in Dandong and the role these have played in the country's ongoing attempts to evade...

Tags: China, Project Sandstone, North Korea, Other Publications

"“These include multiple Dandong firms being involved in coal and iron imports even as ever more stringent measures on such commodities were imposed by the UN Security Council in 2016 and 2017,” said Joseph Byrne, a research analyst at RUSI’s Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Team, and one of the report’s authors. "

China complicit in bypassing UN sanctions to launder North Korean money, report suggests

4 September 2020

Tags: Project Sandstone

"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week."

North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels

17 July 2020

Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific

Project Sandstone Report 6: The Phantom Fleet: North Korea’s Smugglers in Chinese Waters

5 March 2020

A large fleet of North Korean cargo ships continues to deliver coal to China in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions, in what...

Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Pacific

"Analysts at the U.K.-based think tank Royal United Services Institute used ships' radio signals and satellite imagery to determine that North Korean-controlled cargo vessels have made at least 175 trips to the Chinese coastal city of Zhoushan, near Shanghai, since October last year"

After Losing Cargo Ship to U.S., North Korea Found Another in Vietnam

5 March 2020

Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy

Pages

Bridge across the river bordering North Korea and China

Project Sandstone Report 7: The Billion-Dollar Border Town: North Korea's Trade Networks in Dandong (Part 1)

4 September 2020

James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Gary Somerville and Hamish Macdonald

This report analyses North Korea's trade networks in Dandong and the role these have played in the country's ongoing attempts to evade...

Tags: China, Project Sandstone, North Korea, Other Publications

Project Sandstone Report 6: The Phantom Fleet: North Korea’s Smugglers in Chinese Waters

5 March 2020

James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Gary Somerville and Hamish Macdonald

A large fleet of North Korean cargo ships continues to deliver coal to China in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions, in what...

Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Pacific

Ship sails into horizon

Project Sandstone Report 5: Kaohsiung Cowboys: The Taiwanese Network Facilitating North Korea’s Illicit Activities

12 December 2019

James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Hamish Macdonald and Gary Somerville

This report provides a network analysis of North Korea's oil smuggling networks.

Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, Global Security Issues

Coal in a ship.

Project Sandstone Report 4: Down and Out in Pyongyang and London

26 September 2019

James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Hamish Macdonald and Gary Somerville

This report examines the role that UK companies have in North Korean efforts to evade international sanctions.

Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, UK, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy

Satellite image of Nampo Port North Korea

Project Sandstone 3: On the Trail of the Tae Yang: AIS Spoofing and North Korean Coal Smuggling

26 June 2019

Catherine Dill, Cameron Trainer, Joseph Byrne, Gary Somerville and James Byrne

This report examines how the Tae Yang has used sophisticated measures to avoid being tracked, possibly to conduct activities that...

Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy

"But a report published this month by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think-tank, found that a network of 150 Chinese businesses had a central role in facilitating North Korean access to international markets. It said they were involved in about $2.7bn worth of shipments between 2014 and 2017, representing about 20 per cent of the $13.9bn value of North Korea’s trade during that period. "

Kim Jong Un’s dependence on China grows as virus hits economy

9 September 2020 Tags: Project Sandstone

"“These include multiple Dandong firms being involved in coal and iron imports even as ever more stringent measures on such commodities were imposed by the UN Security Council in 2016 and 2017,” said Joseph Byrne, a research analyst at RUSI’s Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Team, and one of the report’s authors. "

China complicit in bypassing UN sanctions to launder North Korean money, report suggests

4 September 2020 Tags: Project Sandstone

"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week."

North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels

17 July 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific

"Analysts at the U.K.-based think tank Royal United Services Institute used ships' radio signals and satellite imagery to determine that North Korean-controlled cargo vessels have made at least 175 trips to the Chinese coastal city of Zhoushan, near Shanghai, since October last year"

After Losing Cargo Ship to U.S., North Korea Found Another in Vietnam

5 March 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy