No Nukes on North Korean Cargo Ship

So much depends on how things are put. And, what part of an event is considered important by those describing it.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently seized a cargo ship on route to Iran from North Korea. News services around the world reported what happened. Each hand its own angle on the story. In this sense, "angle" means "a biased way of looking at or presenting something". (Princeton's WordNet)

I'm not sure I buy that definition entirely: at least, if the word "biased" is taken as a pejorative. If "biased" is used to describe having a particular point of view, okay.

Provided that the reporting doesn't have a shot at implying that, since no North Korean nuclear weapons material was found on the ANL Australia, terrorist claims about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by imperialist capitalist warmongers are all lies. And no: I didn't read anything like that: but, being born during the Truman administration, I've read - and heard - plenty of serious thinkers express that sort of idea.

Australian Ship Seized, Korean Ship Seized: It's the Same Ship

The ship that was seized was reported as being North Korean (The Korea Times) and Australian (The Age). It's also a Bahaman ship.

The ANL Australia is owned by the ANL Shipping Company, an Australian firm; flies a Bahaman flag, and was hauling cargo for North Korea. (The Age, ANL)

It Depends on What You Think is Important

An Australian paper focused on the probe that the Australian-owned ship - and probably its owners - will face. My take on that is that the probe is necessary, but the company may not have knowingly been breaking the United Nations rules about North Korea exporting weapons.

The South Korean paper focused on actions of the UAE and the possible (probable) violation of U.N. Resolution 1874 by North Korea.

The Wall Street Journal and CNN had more to say about the diplomatic angle of the event. The Wall Street Journal's article went into a bit more detail.

And, typos happen: CNN reported that the ship is the "AML Australia." The company doesn't have a ship by that name, but does have one called the "ANL Australia," the ship identified by The Age. (ANL Schedule Search) I haven't been able to find a ship called the "AML Australia," apart from iterations of the CNN story, or CNN's source, and my guess is that an Australian news service is more likely to know the name of an Australian ship, than editors on the other side of the world. My guess is that The Age and Reuters are right about the ANL Australia's name.

Australian/Bahaman/Korean Ship Seized, Weapons Found: Good News, Bad News

The bad news is that it looks very much like North Korea is determined to ignore U.N. Resolution 1874. And, is quite willing to supply weapons to Iran, including:

• Rocket launchers
• Detonators
• RPGs

It's not just Australia, The Bahamas and North Korea that's involved. Reuters says France, Italy and China are linked to the situation. That could mean anything from being involved with the illegal shipment of arms, to having cargo on the same ship.

The good news is that the weapons apparently were quite conventional. No nuclear material - at least none that got mentioned in the news. After what happened (or didn't, depending on which of Syria's stories you read) in the Syrian desert, nuclear weapons material from North Korea bound for the Middle East isn't that much of a stretch.

Like I said, good news.

Related posts:

• "North Korea's Still There, Still a 'Serious Concern' "
  (June 24, 2009)
• "Iran, Islam, 'Arrogant Powers' and 'Certain Expansionist Superpowers,' and Common Sense"
  (May 30, 2009)
• "North Korea's City-Busting Nuke, a New Missile, and Diplomacy"
  (May 25, 2009)
• "Syria, the IAEA, Israel, Claims and Denials"
  (June 22, 2008)
• "Nuclear Materials from North Korea, Sand, or Radioactive Kimchi?"
  (September 18, 2007)

In the news:

• "UAE Seizes NK Ship Carrying Weapons"
  The [South] Korea Times (August 29, 2009)
• "Aussie ship heading to Iran faces probe"
  The Age [Australia] (August 29, 2009)
• "UAE seizes N. Korean arms bound for Iran, diplomats say"
  CNN [America] (August 29, 2009)
• "Cargo of North Korea Matériel Is Seized en Route to Iran"
  The Wall Street Journal [America] (August 29, 2009)
• "UAE seized N.Korea arms shipment bound for Iran"
  Reuters [America, Belgium, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mauritius, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, ....] (August 28, 2009)