U.S. Tracking Of N. Korean Ship Poses Challenges

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MICHELE NORRIS, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

The U.S. is tracking a North Korean ship that may be carrying weapons. A shipment of that kind is banned under a new U.N. Security Council resolution. The U.S. is faced with a challenge of how to confront North Korean ships without provoking a fight.

NPR's J.J. Sutherland reports.

J.J. SUTHERLAND: The U.S. military has been tracking the ship, the Kong Nom. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, wouldn't say exactly what the U.S. thinks the ship is carrying.

Admiral MICHAEL MULLEN (Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff): I wouldn't go into any kind of details at this particular point in time except to say that it's very clear that the resolution prohibits North Korea from shipping these kinds of materials, from conventional weapons up to fissile material or nuclear weapons.

SUTHERLAND: The U.S. wants to prevent the transfer of weapons or weapons technology, and that means stopping ships, but North Korea has said that would be an act of war.

The trick for the U.S. military is to stop the ships without provoking a confrontation. There are procedures for this. The U.N. resolution lays out the basic steps.

Step One: Once a North Korean ship is identified as being of concern, the U.S. and its allies have the right to challenge the ship on the high seas. The U.N. resolution does not, however, allow a forcible search of a ship. At that point, you go to Step Two.

Here's Admiral Mullen.

Adm. MULLEN: If a vessel like this is queried and doesn't allow a permissive search to direct it to go into a port, and the country of that port is required to inspect the vessel.

SUTHERLAND: And inevitably, the ship has to stop somewhere. Given the limited range of North Korean ships, they have to dock to refuel. At that point, the burden is on whatever country the ship docks in to search it.

Mr. ANTHONY CORDESMAN (Analyst, Center for Strategic and International Studies): Is this perfect? Is it the same as a naval blockade? No. On the other hand, it's much less provocative. It doesn't meet any of the definitions of an act of war.

SUTHERLAND: Anthony Cordesman is an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He says the U.S. is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the North Koreans, but not an easy one.

Mr. CORDESMAN: This will be a continuing political struggle. It's going to be a continuing game. It's rather difficult to escalate a cargo ship into a clash with some kind of combat ship, but North Korea can basically make an incident out of anything.

SUTHERLAND: Even without an incident at sea, North Korea is apparently planning another long-range ballistic missile test - one that could reach Hawaii. The U.S. has deployed missile defenses there as a precaution.

J.J. Sutherland, NPR News.

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