Panama halts N. Korean ship, reports missile gear
Panamanian authorities impounded a rusting North Korean freighter on a voyage from Cuba toward the Panama Canal and back to its home country and said the ship was carrying missile-system components cloaked in a cargo of sugar. The arms appear to violate U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea.
President Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, who announced the seizure of the vessel late Monday in a radio interview, posted a photograph in a Twitter message of what he described as “sophisticated missile equipment” found in the cargo hold of the vessel, the 450-foot Chong Chon Gang, a 36-year-old freighter that has rarely plied the waters of the Western Hemisphere.
Martinelli and other Panamanian officials said the vessel’s 35 crew members were taken into custody after they resisted efforts to redirect the vessel to the Panamanian port of Manzanillo, at the Atlantic end of the canal, and that the captain sought to commit suicide after the ship was detained. The captain’s condition was unknown.
The president said the ship would undergo a thorough inspection to look for any more contraband.
“We’re going to keep unloading the ship and figure out exactly what was inside,” he said. “You cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal.”
Jose Raul Mulino, Panama’s minister of security, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the suspect cargo had been found in two containers and that “evidently, they are armaments.”
The crew members were detained and taken to a naval base after they disconnected crane cables aboard their ship, in what Mulino called an act of “rebellion and sabotage.”
Martinelli said the ship had been stopped initially on suspicion of carrying illegal drugs. Mulino said a tip to search the North Korean vessel came from Panamanian intelligence.
A private defense analysis firm that examined a photograph of the find said the ship appeared to be transporting a radar-control system for a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system.
A statement from Cuba’s Foreign Ministry late Tuesday acknowledged that the military equipment belonged to the Caribbean nation but said it had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island.
It said the 265 tons of weaponry consisted of two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles “in parts and spares,” two MiG-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.
“The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty,” the statement read.
It concluded by saying that Havana remains “unwavering” in its commitment to international law, peace and nuclear disarmament.
North Korean officials did not comment on the shipment or seizure.
The two countries, known for their antipathy to the United States, have formed close bonds over the years, partly as a consequence of a U.S.-led effort to ostracize them internationally, North Korea in particular.
The United Nations has imposed broad sanctions on North Korea that seek to curtail its ability to export and import weaponry, particularly missile components and technology.
U.S. officials say North Korea’s arms trade has helped finance the country’s nuclear and missile ambitions. In February, North Korea carried out its third nuclear test.
The seizure comes as Panama and South Korea have been strengthening ties and exploring a possible free-trade agreement.
North Korea and Cuba have been further strengthening ties as well. Two weeks ago the North Korean armed forces chief of staff, Kim Kyok Sik, visited Cuba and met with President Raul Castro, Cuban media reported.
Meanwhile, South Korea on Tuesday blamed North Korea for a wave of cyberattacks that paralyzed 69 websites last month, including those belonging to the presidential office and local media companies.
The South Korean Science Ministry said it reached its conclusion after analyzing the damaged servers and personal computers, malicious codes, Internet Protocol addresses and other data used in the attacks, which took place on June 25, the 63rd anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War.
A government panel of investigators also found similarities between the codes and other hacking methods used in the June disruptions and the cyberattacks that shut down tens of thousands of computers at South Korean broadcasters and banks in March. The South had earlier blamed the North for the March attacks. Information for this article was contributed by Rick Gladstone, Gerry Mullany, Choe Sang-Hun, Raphael Minder, Anne-Sophie Bolon and Karla Zabludovsky of The New
York Times and by Juan Zamorano, Michael Weissenstein, Arnulfo Franco, Malin Rising, Peter Orsi, Edith M. Lederer and Ron DePasquale of The Associated Press.