WASHINGTON/SEOUL—The United States is monitoring a North Korean ship for weapons and has deployed anti-missile assets to the Pacific in case Pyongyang launches more missiles, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The U.S. Navy is monitoring a vessel called Kang Nam at sea under new U.N. sanctions that bar North Korea from exporting weapons, including missile parts and nuclear materials, they said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ship based in North Korea became "a subject of interest" after leaving a North Korean port on Wednesday.
They declined to say what the ship, now in international waters, might be carrying.
The Kang Nam is the first ship to be monitored under the U.N. sanctions adopted last week after Pyongyang raised tensions by test-firing missiles, restarting a plant to produce arms-grade plutonium and conducting a nuclear test.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to discuss specifics at a briefing, but he stressed the U.N. resolution would allow the U.S. Navy to search a ship only with its flag country's consent.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington was also concerned about the possibility of North Korea firing off more missiles, possibly in the direction of Hawaii.
The U.S. Navy is monitoring a vessel called Kang Nam at sea under new U.N. sanctions that bar North Korea from exporting weapons, including missile parts and nuclear materials, they said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ship based in North Korea became "a subject of interest" after leaving a North Korean port on Wednesday.
They declined to say what the ship, now in international waters, might be carrying.
The Kang Nam is the first ship to be monitored under the U.N. sanctions adopted last week after Pyongyang raised tensions by test-firing missiles, restarting a plant to produce arms-grade plutonium and conducting a nuclear test.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to discuss specifics at a briefing, but he stressed the U.N. resolution would allow the U.S. Navy to search a ship only with its flag country's consent.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington was also concerned about the possibility of North Korea firing off more missiles, possibly in the direction of Hawaii.
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