WASHINGTON — U.S. officials said today that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back in the direction it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.
The move keeps the U.S. and the rest of the international community guessing: Where is the Kana Nam going? Does its cargo include materials banned by a new U.N. anti-proliferation resolution?
The ship left a North Korean port on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material. The Navy had been watching it, at times following it from a distance, for a week and a half as it traveled south and southwest.
The North Korean ship turned around on Sunday and is headed back north, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
They said they didn’t know where it was going.
Though acknowledging all along that the Kang Nam’s destination was unclear, some officials said last week that it could be going to Myanmar and that it was unclear whether it could reach there without stopping in another port to refuel. The U.N. resolution allows the international community to ask for permission to board and search any suspect ship on the seas. If boarding is refused, authorities could ask for an inspection in whichever nation where the ship pulls into port.
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