For five months, the North Korean freighter Wise Honest was in the port of Pago Pago in American Samoa. The US confiscated the ship in May for violating economic sanctions. The freighter had exported coal, imported heavy machinery and thus violated the international embargo on North Korea, argued a US federal prosecutor.
Now the US Coast Guard has announced that the 1989 Wise Honest was sold and towed out of port on Monday. A federal district court in New York had auctioned the US media second largest freighter North Korea auction. The authority did not name the buyer.
The move could further burden the relationship between the US and North Korea. The regime in Pyongyang had already described the confiscation of the ship in May as an "unlawful" and "nefarious" act by the Americans. The incident shows that the US is a "gangster country" that does not care about international law. North Korea had repeatedly threatened with consequences if the US did not return the freighter.
The sale of the freighter comes at a politically sensitive time. After a break of about seven months, the US and North Korea had negotiated again for the first time over North Korea's nuclear weapons program at the weekend. Negotiator Pyongyang then spoke of a "disappointing" and even "disgusting" meeting, while the US State Department had good discussions.
