Chiang Mai (mizzima) - A North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons and possibly en route to Burma was plying the waters off Shanghai on Tuesday morning, as regional military officials and a U.S. destroyer continued to keep a close eye on the vessel's movements.
South Korea's YTN said the ship was travelling in waters 200 nautical miles (230 miles, 370 kilometers) southeast of Shanghai at a speed of about 10 knots per hour.
However there is still uncertainty regarding the final destination of the ship and its cargo. Pyongyang is thought to have previously sold ballistic missiles, and perhaps nuclear technology, to Syria and Iran, and some observers are concerned a stopover in Burma could signal a similar delivery.
The Kang Nam is the first North Korean vessel monitored under new U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang for last month's nuclear test.
The resolution calls on U.N. member states to inspect North Korean vessels if they have "reasonable grounds" to believe that its cargo contains banned weapons or materials. But it must first get the consent of the North Korean ship.
Failing permission, under the terms of the resolution, the U.S. warship is supposed to attempt and direct the intercepted ship to a nearby port without the threat or use of force.
With North Korea unlikely to allow any boarding of the Kang Nam, inspection on the high seas seems unlikely, according to Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think-tank outside Seoul. U.S. officials also acknowledge that they are largely powerless to stop and search the Kang Nam.
Singapore is the largest maritime service and refuelling port in the world, situated as it is at a crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. If the Kang Nam needs fuel it would probably stop in the Lion City.
"Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), their means of delivery and related materials," a spokesman for the Singaporean Foreign Affairs Ministry said Tuesday on condition of anonymity according to ministry policy. "If the allegation is true, Singapore will act appropriately."
According to the Associated Press, Senator John McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, said Sunday that the U.S. should board the Kang Nam even without North Korean permission if hard evidence shows it is carrying missiles or other cargo in violation of U.N. resolutions.
"I think we should board it. It's going to contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations that pose a direct threat to the United States," McCain is reported to have said on CBS' 'Face the Nation'.
On Monday, a spokesperson from the United States State Department told reporters in Washington that there was no new information available on whether or not the United States would seek to board the Kang Nam.
