North Korea ship seizure shows dire straits of Cuban military rather than threat

The seizure in Panama of a North Korean cargo ship carrying ageing Cuban military hardware in need of repair is more a sign of hard times in Havana than of any sinister military threat, analysts say.

Although Cuba may have violated United Nations sanctions barring military trade with North Korea, the infraction could result in little more than a slap on the wrist as the Soviet-era weaponry appears unrelated to international concern over proliferation of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang.

“Based on what we know, the military impact seems to be negligible,” said Philip Peters, a Cuba expert at the Virginia-based Cuban Research Centre. “This materiel has nothing to do with the international community’s core concern about North Korea, which is nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.”

The shipment included two anti-aircraft missile batteries, nine disassembled missiles, two MiG-21 aircraft and 15 MiG engines, all Soviet-era military weaponry built in the middle of the last century.

The Cuban military was “using weapons and equipment of staggeringly old vintage” and the Pentagon had long since written off the island as a military threat, said Hal Klepak, professor of history and strategy at the Royal Military College of Canada and author of a book on the Cuban military.