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        UN Sanctions Operator of North Korean Ship Caught Smuggling Arms

   by VOA News

   The United Nations imposed sanctions on the operator of a North Korean
   ship seized last year by Panama while trying to smuggle arms from Cuba.

   The Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee voted late
   Monday to place an international asset freeze and travel ban on Ocean
   Maritime Management.

   The committee said the company "played a key role in arranging the
   shipment," which included two Mig-21 fighter jets, missiles and other
   arms hidden under sacks of sugar.

   "Obsolete" weapons claim

   The Chong Chon Gang was stopped in July 2013 near the Panama Canal on
   suspicion of smuggling drugs. Cuba said it was sending what it called
   the "obsolete" weapons to North Korea for repairs.

   But the U.N. committee said the concealment of the undeclared weapons
   "demonstrates intent to evade" international sanctions banning the
   export of arms to North Korea.

   "Ocean Maritime Management Company, Ltd (OMM), played a key role in
   arranging the shipment of the concealed cargo of arms and related
   materiel," the committee said in an implementation assistance notice.

   "The concealment of the aforementioned items demonstrates intent to
   evade U.N. sanctions, and is consistent with previous attempts by the
   DPRK to transfer arms and related materiel through similar tactics in
   contravention of Security Council prohibitions," the committee said.

   U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, described the
   Chong Chon Gang incident as "a cynical, outrageous and illegal attempt
   by Cuba and North Korea to circumvent United Nations sanctions."

   She said the Security Council committee had "uncovered irrefutable
   facts that clearly prove Cuba and the DPRK's intentions to violate
   sanctions by employing highly sophisticated deception and obfuscation
   techniques."

   North Korea is under an array of United Nations and U.S. and other
   countries' sanctions for nuclear and ballistic missile tests since 2006
   in defiance of global demands to stop.

   A U.N. report issued in March said North Korea has developed
   sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including
   the suspected use of its embassies abroad to facilitate an illegal
   trade in weapons.

   Concerned by cooperation

   The Security Council committee said on Monday that investigation found
   indications that North Korean officials in Havana helped make
   arrangements for the Chong Chon Gang shipment.

   "The committee encourages states to continue to exercise enhanced
   vigilance over DPRK diplomatic personnel," it said.

   The committee said it was concerned the military cooperation between
   Cuba and North Korea violated U.N. resolutions, which "prohibit the
   transfer from the DPRK by its nationals or from its territory of
   advice, services or assistance related to the maintenance or use of
   prohibited arms and related materiel."

   "This prohibition covers many activities including repair, diagnosis,
   monitoring, physical and chemical tests, and any related services for
   such items," the committee said.

   A Panamanian court on Friday ordered the release of the Chong Chon
   Gang's three North Korean officers. Thirty-two North Korean sailors and
   the ship were released by Panama in February.

   Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-sanctions-operator-of-north-korean-ship-caught-smuggling-arms/1967073.html