The United Arab Emirates has seized a North Korean ship heading to Iran, carrying weapons, in violation of a U.N. resolution, Yonhap News Agency said Saturday.
South Korea reserved direct comment on the report, saying only that it was trying to confirm details through diplomatic channels. The news comes at a sensitive time when the North is reaching out to the outside world after months of hostile acts, including missile and nuclear tests.
"We can not make an official comment until the U.N.'s sanctions committee releases the results of its investigation," a foreign ministry official said.
"The UAE government has notified the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee of its seizure of a North Korean ship heading to Iran in violation of a U.N. resolution," a diplomatic source in the U.N. said.
U.N. Resolution 1874, adopted after North Korea's second nuclear test in May that followed one in 2006, bans North Korea from conducting any nuclear and ballistic missile tests while imposing an overall arms embargo, financial sanctions and cargo interdiction on the high seas to prevent proliferation of North Korean conventional weapons, as well as missiles and nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
The sanctions committee will soon convene a meeting to discuss the issue, Yonhap said, citing another unnamed source.