The cargo of weaponry seized by Panamanian
officials en route from Cuba to North Korea
has caused an international uproar, but
revealed nothing new about the East Asian
pariah. Cuba’s foreign ministry has dismissed
international concerns, describing the haul as
240 tons of “obsolete defensive weapons”
requiring repair. Observers have speculated
that the 10,000 tons of brown sugar used to
conceal the illicit consignment was payment
for this service, and U.N. inspectors have been
summoned to Central America to mediate the
affair. Even if the explanation were as benign
as that now proffered, Havana could face
possible censure for contravention of a U.N.
arms embargo that requires a waiver before
any such dealings with Pyongyang. For North
Korea, however, it will be a return to business
as usual.
North Korea knows how to make the world
jittery. Pyongyang has helped nations like Iran
and Pakistan develop a nuclear capability, and
fired missiles over staunch U.S. allies South
Korea and Japan. In 2010, it torpedoed a South
Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors, and
shelled a South Korean island, claiming the
lives of two soldiers and injuring 18 people.
Earlier this year another nuclear device was
tested, and a North Korean general declared
the army was “one click” from launching an
atomic weapon. Any hopes that Kim Jong Un
would take a more moderate line than his
father, Kim Jong Il, have quickly dissipated.
Nevertheless, this latest incident does not
appear as the sort of bellicose publicity stunt
that characterizes the Swiss-schooled 30-year-
old “Supreme Leader.” The North Korean
captain of the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang
detained at the entrance of the Panama Canal
last week was clearly agitated as marines
boarded his ship. He attacked the soldiers,
appeared to suffer a heart attack and
attempting to slit his own throat with a knife.
The vessel’s 35 detained crewmembers are to
be charged with crimes against Panama’s
internal security, according to local officials.
Analysts at IHS Jane, a defense intelligence
firm, identified the equipment as an
engagement radar system for the SA-2 family
of surface-to-air missiles — technology
debuted back in the Vietnam War.
The Panamanian authorities have been milking
the incident for all its worth, with President
Ricardo Martinelli even posting a photo of the
suspect equipment to his Twitter page. “They
must be missiles, missile launchers, et cetera,
something like that,” Panama’s Security
Minister José Raul Mulino told Radio Panama,
before conceding, “I’m no weapons expert.”
Havana has specified that the inventory
contained two anti-aircraft missile complexes,
nine missiles in parts and spares, two
MiG-21bis fighter planes and 15 MiG engines.

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