New | North Korea to pay Panama fine for release of weapons-smuggling seamen
Socialist state to pay reduced fine for crew of ship stopped by Panama customs for carrying concealed weapons from Cuba
North Korean authorities will pay a fine next week to ensure the return of a ship stopped near the Panama Canal with military weapons from Cuba onboard, officials said Thursday.
The settlement should end a protracted dispute over the Chong Chon Gang, a freighter with a crew of 35 intercepted by Panamanian customs officers on July 10 as it tried to enter the canal.
Authorities uncovered 25 containers of military hardware, including two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets, air defence systems, missiles and command and control vehicles, concealed within 200,000 sacks of sugar.
“Over the course of the next week, they have confirmed to us that the [North Korean] Foreign Ministry will pay to free the sailors and the ship,” Foreign Minister Fernando Nunez told reporters.
Panama, which is holding the North Korean ship’s 35-strong crew at a former US naval base, initially imposed a million-dollar penalty on the communist state.
Bu the amount was reduced to US$666,666 (two-thirds of the initial fine) after North Korean officials admitted to having given a false statement on the ship’s load and agreed to pay.
The crew members face a possible sentence of 12 years in prison for arms trafficking, although Nunez anticipated prosecutors would free 32 of them who did not know the content of the load.