North Korea:  U.S., Spanish Forces Seize Scud Shipment

The United States and Spain seized a North Korean ship traveling to Yemen early Monday loaded with a dozen or more disassembled Scud ballistic missiles.  Following Yemeni protests today, however, it appeared that the United States would probably allow the ship to continue its journey, U.S. officials said (Trotta/Sudam, Reuters, Dec. 11).

The U.S. Navy and intelligence satellites have monitored the ship, the So San, since it left port last month, U.S. officials said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2).  U.S. and Spanish troops boarded the ship in international waters 600 miles southeast of Yemen, a U.S. official said.  The ship tried to evade capture, resulting in a hostile boarding action by Spanish special forces, according to the Washington Post (Ricks/Slevin, Washington Post, Dec. 11).

U.S. Defense Department officials said that Spanish warships had the right to stop the North Korean ship because it was not flying a flag and had its official markings obscured by paint.

“It appeared as a lawless, stateless vessel,” a Pentagon official said (Shanker/Neilan, New York Times, Dec. 11).

The decision to seize the ship was approved “at the highest levels of the administration,” a U.S. official said.

After searching the ship, the United States questioned its legal status, officials said.  For example, the original name of the ship had been painted over and its registry papers were not in order, they said (Ricks/Slevin, Washington Post).

“It is a Cambodian vessel improperly registered.  It had a name of So San, and it was painted over the original name.  There was also paint over its ID number,” a Bush administration official said.

The crew on the ship appeared to be North Korean, and when the ship refused the Spanish request to stop, it signaled to Pyongyang, the official said (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Dec. 11).

Spanish troops found the Scud parts when they opened containers that were partially hidden by sacks of cement, at which point they called in U.S military explosives experts, the Washington Post reported (Ricks/Slevin, Washington Post).  The ship also carried containers of a chemical called inhibited red fuming nitric acid, which is used as an oxidizer in Scud missile fuel (Gertz, Washington Times).

Yemen apparently had purchased the missile components to help upgrade the small number of Scuds it already possesses, a U.S. intelligence official said.  In recent months, however, Yemeni officials have repeatedly pledged that they would not purchase missiles or missile components, an official said.

“We keep catching them with their hand in the cookie jar,” the official added (Ricks/Slevin, Washington Post).

Yemen today said the Scuds were meant for its army and issued a formal protest over the seizure of the ship, according to the official Yemeni news agency Saba.

“The shipment is part of contracts signed some time ago,” Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said.  “It belongs to the Yemeni government and its army and meant for defensive purposes,” he added.

Al-Qirbi has summoned the U.S. ambassador to the capital of Sanaa to lodge a formal protest over the seizure, Saba said.

The ship has been transferred to the United States and is now traveling to Diego Garcia, a U.S. base in the Indian Ocean, Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo said (Shanker/Neilan, New York Times).  According to Reuters, however, Yemen announced today that the United States has agreed to release the ship and its cargo.

Officials will give the missiles on the ship to Yemen if it purchased them from North Korea, a U.S. defense official said.

“Right now, the ship is carrying ‘undeclared cargo,’” the official said.  “But if they (the missiles) become legal cargo, there is not much we can do.  Weapons sales between two countries are not against the law.  Only Iraq is forbidden (under U.N. sanctions) to buy weapons,” the official added (Trotta/Sudam, Reuters, Dec. 11).

U.S. Response

The United States had expected the seizure of the ship and its cargo of components for 15 Scud missiles, and the action will have little impact on U.S. policy toward North Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.

“Obviously, this was expected by American authorities for some time,” he said during a press conference in Beijing today.  “I don’t think there’s any change (in U.S. policy),” he added.

The shipment helps prove that North Korea is still a top missile proliferator, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

“They continue to be the single largest proliferator of ballistic missile technology on the face of the Earth, and they are putting into the hands of many countries the technologies and capabilities which have the potential for killing hundreds of thousands of people,” he said (NBC News/MSNBC, Dec. 11).

South Korea

South Korea has said it would continue to closely consult with the United States regarding the missile shipment.

“The government will enter close consultations with the United States,” a senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official said.  “The United States has a position that it will closely cooperate with its allies before deciding on next steps,” the official added.

Some South Korean experts questioned whether the seizure was legal.

“I don’t understand on what legal grounds the United States has seized the ship,” Chung In-seop, a professor of international law at Seoul National University said, noting that North Korea has not joined the Missile Technology Control Regime, which regulates missile exports.  “The burden of proof rests with the United States to show that the ship was headed for a destination like Iraq or other regions like Somalia engulfed in armed conflicts,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo.com, Dec. 11).

For further information, see:

Missile Technology Control Regime (U.S. State Department)

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Iran:  Tehran Tests North Korean Missile Engine

Iran has begun conducting engine tests of a North Korean-made Taepodong 1 medium-range ballistic missile that it obtained more than two years ago, Periscope Daily Defense News Capsules reported last week (see GSN, Oct. 23).  The purpose of the tests is to help Iran build its own version of the missile or a variant, Western intelligence sources said (Middle East Newsline/Periscope Daily Defense News, Dec. 4).

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