U.S. Seizes North Korean Ship for Violating Sanctions by Eileen Sullivan and Benjamin Weiser – New York Times
The United States has seized a North Korean shipping vessel that was violating American law and international sanctions, the Justice Department announced Thursday, a move certain to escalate tensions already on the rise between the two nations because of recent North Korean weapons tests.
Prosecutors said the carrier ship, the Wise Honest, was being used to export North Korean coal, a critical sector of the North’s economy that the United States and the United Nations have aggressively imposed sanctions on in an effort to force Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program. The ship was also being used to import heavy machinery.
It was the first time the United States has seized a North Korean cargo vessel for international sanctions violations, the Justice Department said. The Wise Honest is the second-largest cargo ship in Pyongyang’s fleet…