UNITED NATIONS: A UN Security Council committee on Monday blacklisted the operator of a North Korean ship, which was seized near the Panama Canal last year for smuggling Soviet-era arms, and raised concerns about Cuba’s military cooperation with Pyongyang.
The North Korea (DPRK) sanctions committee designated Ocean Maritime Management, which operated the Chong Chon Gang, the ship detained a year ago carrying arms, including two MiG-21 jet fighters, under thousands of tonnes of sugar.
The company is now subject to an international asset freeze and travel ban. North Korea is under an array of UN, US and other countries’ sanctions for nuke and ballistic missile tests since 2006 in defiance of global demands to stop.
“Ocean Maritime Management Company, Ltd, played a key role in arranging the shipment of the concealed cargo of arms and related materiel,” the committee said.
“The concealment of the aforementioned items demonstrates intent to evade UN 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.
Reuters
