U.S. Navy Intercepts North Korean Ship Carrying Missile Technology

Guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell in the western Pacific Ocean Photo: AFP

So, I bet you didn't know that last month, a North Korean ship (which had been flagged by the country of Belize) was intercepted by the USS McCampbell and after four refusals by the North Koreans to allow the U.S. inspection, the ship finally stopped and allowed boarding by the U.S. Navy....did you? And you didn't know that the Navy found missile technology on board - a direct violation of sanctions against the communist country, did you?

Well, the news is now out and apparently, the situation went beyond tense. Here's some of the report from The Telegraph:

The US Navy has intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile technology to Burma and after dramatic stand-off forced it to turn back, according to The New York Times.

Pyongyang was forced to recall the ship home after the confrontation last month, which involved several days of diplomatic wrangling.

The US government made no official announcement about the operation, the paper added.

"This case had an interesting wrinkle: the ship was North Korean, but it was flagged in Belize," one US official told the paper.

And the authorities in Belize gave permission to the United States to inspect the ship, according to the report.

Now, in this whole situation we are looking at a double whammy of sanctions...first off, North Korea is saddled with sanctions on it for distributing military technology and munitions and at the same time, Burma is on an embargo by the U.S. as well for the import of weapons. The fact that the North Koreans refused to stop in this situation shows the level of their wanting some sort of confrontation with the U.S.

But my question in all of this is why this is just coming out now? This could have been a charged international situation with the U.S. smack dab in the middle of it and it seems critical to me that the people of this country need to know what the heck is going on in the world, especially when we are in direct confrontation with one of our enemies.

US Navy intercepts North Korean 'missile carrier'


The US Navy has intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile technology to Burma and after dramatic stand-off forced it to turn back, according to The New York Time.

Pyongyang was forced to recall the ship home after the confrontation last month, which involved several days of diplomatic wrangling.

The US government made no official announcement about the operation, the paper added.

But it said US officials had described the episode as an example of how they can use a combination of naval power and diplomatic pressure to enforce UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after its 2009 nuclear test.

"This case had an interesting wrinkle: the ship was North Korean, but it was flagged in Belize," one US official told the paper.

And the authorities in Belize gave permission to the United States to inspect the ship, according to the report.

On May 26, somewhere south of Shanghai, the US destroyer McCampbell caught up with the cargo ship M/V Light and hailed it, asking to board the vessel under the authority given by Belize.

Four times, the North Koreans refused. But a few days later, the cargo ship stopped dead in the water and turned back to its home port, tracked by US surveillance planes and satellites, the report said.