Global Security Newswire

A North Korean cargo vessel being monitored for possible violation of a U.N. arms embargo might be carrying missile technology to Myanmar, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, June 19).

The Kang Nam 1 is believed to have previously transported materials related to Pyongyang's missile program. The United Nations this month prohibited the North from importing or exporting any weapons technology, after Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test.

A U.S. Navy destroyer is following the ship as it sails south along the coast of China.

"The United States suspects that the Kang Nam 1 may carry missiles or related parts and that the ship is likely to call at Singapore on her route" to Myanmar, a South Korean intelligence official told the television network YTN.

While there has been no confirmation that the ship is carrying contraband, a U.S. defense official cited the vessel's reputation as a transporter of weapons technology. "Once a suspect, always a suspect," he said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, June 21).

Singapore said Saturday it would "act appropriately" if the North Korean vessel attempts to dock there while carrying illicit cargo, the Korea Herald reported.

"Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery and related materials," said a spokeswoman for the Singapore government, which is allied with the United States (Korea Herald/Asia News Network, June 22).

If the ship continues to Myanmar, persuading local authorities to search its cargo might be difficult, the New York Times reported today.

The U.N. resolution urges member nations to inspect North Korean vessels if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect they are holding banned cargo. The Obama administration has said the U.S. Navy would not board ships by force; if Pyongyang denies a boarding request, the intercepting vessel would escort the North Korean ship to a nearby port so that nation's government can authorize a search.

However, Myanmar's military junta government has been a customer of North Korean arms in the past, and would probably not be sympathetic to the United Nations' efforts to squelch Pyongyang's weapons trade (Choe Sang-hun, New York Times, June 22).

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he thinks the Navy should board the Kang Nam "if we have hard evidence" it is carrying weapons, Time magazine reported (Mark Thompson, Time, June 22).

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama, in an interview to be televised today, addressed reports that North Korea is planning to launch a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of Hawaii, AFP reported (see GSN, June 19).

"This administration -- and our military -- is fully prepared for any contingencies," Obama told CBS. He said he was not warning that Washington would respond with military action.

"I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals," Obama said. "But I do want to give assurances to the American people that the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted in terms of what might happen" (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, June 22).

U.S. military officials on Friday said the move to bolster missile defenses around Hawaii following reports of an upcoming North Korean missile launch was meant to discourage Pyongyang from carrying out the test, the Associated Press reported.

Officials have little reason to believe Hawaii is in danger of actually being struck by any missile fired from the Korean Peninsula; previous launches -- including one carried out in April -- did not indicate North Korea has advanced its ballistic technology to the extent that it could reach Hawaii with a Taepodong 2 missile.

"I don't see any evidence that Hawaii is in more danger now than before the last TD-2 launch," said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation.

Still, the Taepodong 2 is theoretically capable of striking Hawaii, and officials said they are taking that possibility seriously.

The planned test might be partly an attempt by Pyongyang to exhibit its missile technology in order to stoke its weapons sales, according to observers. North Korea's arms exports account for a relatively large proportion of its revenue.

One U.S. official said he has seen no intelligence suggesting North Korea is readying a long-range missile on either of its major launch sites -- but that that does not preclude the possibility of a launch sometime near July 4, a potential test date reported by Japanese media outlets (Gearan/Hess, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 20).