Iran cargo ship visits port in North Korea, Seoul aide says

Intelligence sources here said yesterday that a large Iranian cargo ship presumed to be a military equipment transport ship recently entered a North Korean Yellow Sea port. The revelation comes as concerns mount about North Korean arms trade, especially with Iran. This is the first Iranian ship to call at a North Korean port in a year.
An intelligence official said the ship arrived last week at Haeju harbor and is still docked there. Haeju is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Seoul.
“There was a precedent last year when an Iranian cargo ship entered the North’s Nampo harbor and then moved to Wonsan,” the official said. “There the ship was loaded with semi-submersible craft and small patrol vessels. The ship went back to Iran via Tianjin, China.”
The official speculated that the Iranian ship would load small patrol boats there or perhaps move to Songrim nearby to take on radar equipment or other goods. A radar manufacturing facility is located near Songrim.
The timing of the Iranian cargo ship’s visit was a sensitive one for South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials. The United States has been trying to assemble a coalition with 10 other governments to interdict North Korean drug and weapons shipments, especially weapons of mass destruction. Interested governments are scheduled to meet in Australia today to refine those plans.
In mid June, JoongAng newspapers reported that Iranian IL-76 cargo planes had made six trips to North Korea since April to transport what were suspected to be missiles.

by Kang Chan-ho