A North Korean vessel suspected of carrying small arms or other weapons in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban has apparently returned to port in its home nation without dropping off any material, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 1).
A South Korean defense official said the Kang Nam 1, which was thought to be heading toward Myanmar before turning around last week, probably docked yesterday at the west coast port of Nampo. Seoul is still seeking confirmation on the ship's status.
The U.N. Security Council last month expanded earlier trade sanctions against Pyongyang to include a prohibition on all arms imports and exports. Some Washington lawmakers worried that the U.N. resolution left the United States powerless to enforce the weapons ban beyond simply assigning warships to stalk suspicious North Korean vessels. However, a top U.S Navy official said the ship's turnaround demonstrated the effectiveness of this policy.
"I think that's an indication of the way the international community came together," said Adm. Gary Roughead, head of U.S. naval operations (Kelly Olsen, Associated Press/Google News, July 7).
Roughead said the United States would continue to closely monitor North Korean vessels it suspects of violating the embargo, Agence France-Presse reported.
"As circumstances arise in the future, we will continue to support the resolution and we will conduct operations in support of that," Roughead said.
"I think what recently happened with the Kang Nam is also a very effective way of stopping that proliferation," he said, "and so we saw that ship go back" (Agence France-Presse/MorningStar.com, July 6).
Philip Goldberg, the U.S. envoy leading Washington's charge on sanctions against Pyongyang, was scheduled last weekend to visit Malaysia, the Yonhap News Agency reported. Authorities believe North Korea might have been trying to use a Malaysian bank to collect payment from Myanmar, according to one source. Goldberg hoped to prevent that from occurring.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "will have a hard time collecting his money," the source said Saturday, prior to confirmation that the North's ship was heading home (Yonhap News Agency, July 4).
Malaysia yesterday demanded proof that one of its banks was involved in the transaction, Agence France-Presse reported.
"If America has any information that is available to them, then I think they should give it to us so we can act upon it," said Foreign Minister Anifah Aman (Agence France-Presse, July 6).
Meanwhile, the Japanese government yesterday submitted legislation clarifying its own strategy for enforcing the North Korea weapons ban, Kyodo News reported.
The bill, still in draft form, assigns the coast guard to stop and inspect any ships sailing in international or Japanese territorial waters that authorities believe might be violating the U.N. resolution. Customs officials would handle inspections occurring at Japanese airport and seaports. If necessary, the military would provide protection to the inspectors.
While a ship's captain would need to assent to any search on the high seas, coast guard officials would respond to a refusal by ordering the vessel to call at a Japanese port, where customs officials would carry out an inspection. Authorities would confiscate any contraband.
It is not certain whether the bill will pass the legislature (Kyodo News, July 7).
The top nuclear negotiators for Japan and South Korea yesterday discussed using a balance of sanctions and diplomacy to try to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the Korea Herald reported.
South Korea's Wi Sung-lac and his Japanese counterpart, Saiki Akitaka, met yesterday in Seoul.
"We agreed that we need to restart talks with (North Korea), while at the same time pursuing a complete implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874," said a high-level South Korean official, referring to the latest action on Pyongyang. Pyongyang abandoned the nuclear negotiations after being criticized at the United Nations for its April rocket launch, which many saw as a test of long-range missile technology.
On the notion of the the two countries joining Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States for a round of five-party talks to address the North Korea issue, "Japan seemed to be positive," the official said (Kim Ji-hyun, Korea Herald, July 7).
China and Russia, which historically have been reluctant to cooperate with any plan that would isolate the North, determined during a meeting Saturday that there is "no alternative" to the six-party talks, which involved China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas, Interfax reported.
"The parties are convinced that the six-party talks have no alternative and remain an efficient tool of regulating the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula, and call for their swift resumption," the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday in a press release (Interfax, July 6).