21.06.2009
Source:
A U.S. navy destroyer is getting into position to intercept a flagged North Korean ship suspected of carrying weaponry or nuclear materials in defiance of a UN ban, Fox News said on Friday.
Citing a senior U.S. defense source, the news channel also said that the USS
John McCain would cut off the
Kang Nam as soon as it left the area off the coast of China.
If the ship is carrying weaponry or nuclear material then this would be a violation of UN Resolution 1874. The ship is believed to be heading to Singapore.
The UN imposed sanctions on North Korea last week that forbid the import and export of nuclear material, missiles and all other weapons, with the exception of small arms. It has authorized the world's navies to enforce the ban. The sanctions came in response to a North Korean nuclear test on May 25.
However, the sanctions do not allow navies to forcibly board North Korean ships, only to halt them and request access.
North Korea has said that any attempt to board its ships would be taken as an act of war, which would be met with "one thousand-fold retaliation."
Tensions were further heightened on Thursday when a Japanese paper reported that North Korea was planning to fire a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Japan's Yomiuri daily said, citing Defense Ministry analysis and U.S. intelligence, that the launch was most likely to take place between July 4 and July 8. However, it also said that the missile would be unable to reach the state's main islands.
