North Koreans Seize Russian Ship Creeping Up On Missile Site
North Korean coast guard vessels seiezed an alleged Russian cargo ship in the Sea of Japan on Saturday and were escorting it to a North Korean port, Russia’s maritime rescue service said.
“The cargo ship Lidia Demech loaded with cars, registered in Kamchatka, was heading from the Japanese port of Hamata to Vladivostok and was inspected near the Cape of Musudan,” it said in a statement.
The reason for the ship carrying 25 crew members having been boarded and escorted to port was not immediately known.
The Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported, citing a source in Russia’s Pacific fleet, that the ship had probably been approaching too close to a secretive North Korean missile testing site.
According to the Russian maritime rescue service the Lidia Demech was boarded between three and five nautical miles from the North Korean coast. Most countries claim 12 nautical miles from their coast as territorial waters.
The North Korean consulate in the nearby port of Nahodka told the ITAR-TASS news agency it had no information from Pyongyang on the reason for the ship being inspected and escorted to port.
North Korea held a Russian ship that sought shelter from a storm in 2005 for 15 days before letting it go following Russian diplomatic pressure.
(AP)
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February 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 amI don’t think the picture above is of anyplace in North Korea.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 amThe Photo is from Seoul South Korea.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:22 am