North Korea missiles: Cache of 'obsolete' Cuban weapons seized from North Korean ship
North Korea missiles: Cuba says the 240 tons of weapons were being sent to North Korea for repairs. Many international observers are dubious.
North Korea missiles: Cuba says the 240 tons of weapons were being sent to North Korea for repairs. Many international observers are dubious.
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Cuba acknowledged Tuesday night that it is the owner of the Soviet-era weapons confiscated by Panamanian officials on a ship flying a North Korean flag, the discovery of which has raised concern over a potential bilateral arms trade.
The ship Chong Chon Gang鈥檚 cargo consisted of about 240 tons of what Cuba called 鈥渙bsolete defensive weapons鈥� that it said were being sent to North Korea for repair, according to The Associated Press. The arms, including missiles, were found buried under about 200,000 sacks of Cuban sugar, reports the Financial Times.
Current United Nations sanctions against North Korea prohibit providing the country with weapons, and the shipment would violate numerous UN Security Council resolutions, according to US State Department Spokesman Patrick Ventrell. The nation was slapped with increased sanctions earlier this year after a missile launch and nuclear test. Cuba is listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terror, but North Korea was taken off the list in 2008.
According to the London-based defense analysis organization IHS Janes, the undeclared weapons have two potential outlooks:
According to IHS and its analysis of open source geographical location data, the ship passed through the Panama Canal destined for Cuba on June 1, then disappeared from the tracking system for 45 days. The BBC notes, 鈥淓xperts say this may indicate that the crew switched off the system that automatically communicates details of their location.鈥�
The US has praised Panama鈥檚 actions and said it was 鈥渁ware of the suspected shipment and believed the Panamanian officials were going to stop it,鈥� a US official said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The head of North Korea鈥檚 armed forces met with President Raul Castro in Cuba last month, and discussed "the historical ties that unite the two nations and the common will to continue strengthening them," according to Cuban state media, the BBC reports.
Bruce Bechtol, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, told USA Today that this was the 鈥渇irst confirmed shipment of weaponry from Cuba to North Korea since the end of the Cold War.鈥�
Some observers say the seizure could impact slowly warming US-Cuban relations. Last month the cold war enemies discussed resuming direct mail services, which have been suspended since 1963, and migration talks were slated to begin today in Washington, according to an Associated Press story published last month.
North Korea has exported weapons on multiple occasions, according to CNN, shipping missiles, weapons technology, and other arms bound for countries including Syria and Myanmar.
Anya Landau French, editor of The Havana Note, a blog on US-Cuba relations, says "we still have more questions than answers" when it comes to understanding Cuba's motivations.聽
A statement by Cuba鈥檚 Ministry of Foreign Relations was published in the Communist-state-sponsored newspaper Granma yesterday declaring its support for peace and disarmament, noting the weapons on board (two anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles 鈥渋n parts and spares,鈥� two Mig-21 Bis fighter planes, and 15 related engines, according to the paper) were 鈥渢o be repaired and returned鈥� to Cuba.
The statement explained that the repairs were 鈥渟upported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty.鈥�