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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Nork Ship returns home |
| 2009-07-07 |
| A ship suspected by the U.S. of carrying weapons-related materials on Monday returned to North Korean territorial waters in the West Sea after days of being trailed by an American ship. Since leaving Nampo Port on June 17, the Kangnam had been under close surveillance in waters off China and Southeast Asia. The Kangnam spent 20 days on a slow chase without finding a port to stop at. Even Burma, the suspected destination of the ship, said it would search the vessel on port, and the Kangnam turned tail in the South China Sea near Vietnam on June 28. The U.S. State Department had urged China and all ASEAN nations to actively implement the resolution, and the U.S. Defense Department had tracked the Kangnam around the clock with a KH-12 reconnaissance satellite, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, and Aegis destroyer USS John McCain. A major achievement was persuading the Burmese junta, which has resumed friendly relations with North Korea, not to permit the Kangnam to stop there. Burma was apparently swayed by fears of hurting relations with Japan, which gives huge amounts of aid to Burma, and South Korea, which has invested in developing resources there. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 soft power at work, but the hard end of the soft power spectrum. |
| Posted by: liberal hawk 2009-07-07 11:56 |
| #1 Wow, big one if they got the consignee to go along with the inspection regime! "Let's see, are these the illegal weapons we ordered?" |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-07-07 01:12 |