North Korea Demands Mexico Give Back ‘Peaceful’ Ship that Skirted U.N. Weapons Sanctions

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PUERTO VALLARTA.- North Korea is demanding that Mexico return a detained ship found to be in violation of U.N. weapons sanctions.

The Mu Du Bong of North Korea’s Ocean Maritime Management company has been detained since July after running aground.

“Because the company has avoided the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the Mexican government is acting on the basis of its international obligations as a responsible U.N. member state,” the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations said Wednesday, CNN reported.

North Korea’s An Myong Hun, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, asserted Wednesday that the ship “is a peaceful, merchant ship and it has not shipped any items prohibited by international laws or regulations,” CNN reported.

CNN reported that Ocean Maritime Management has been blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council since July due to its role “in arranging the shipment of concealed arms and related materiel” to Panama in 2013. Authorities found MiG fighter jets, anti-aircraft systems and explosives under thousands of bags of sugar on the merchant ship Chong Chon Gang.