North Korea Missile: Cuba Says 'Obsolete' Weapons Seized On North Korean Ship Were Being Sent For Repairs

Cuba's Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday evening responding to news that weaponry had been found on board a North Korean ship crossing the Panama Canal on its way home from Cuba, saying that the vessel was mainly intended to carry the 10,000 tons of sugar also found on board. It added that 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons" - two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine unassembled missiles, two Mig-21 Bis planes and 15 engines for it - were also being transported to North Korea for repair and return to Cuba.

"The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty," said Cuba's Foreign Ministry in the statement. "The Republic of Cuba reiterates its firm and irrevocable commitment to peace and disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, and respect for international law."

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But Cuba may see itself becoming the object of international sanctions. The UN prohibits the trading of arms with North Korea over its refusal to show proof that it has ceased its nuclear-weapon development program. The UN has yet to comment, but representatives from South Korea and the United States urged the international body to take action on the matter.

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On a radio show on Tuesday, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said, "We found containers which presumably contain sophisticated missile equipment. That is not allowed. The Panama canal is a canal of peace, not war." Martinelli had previously tweeted a photo showing what Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence, said was probably an antenna for the SNR-75 "Fan Song" radar, which guides missiles fired by the SA-2 air defense system found in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet-ally nations.

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"It is possible that this could be being sent to North Korea to update its high-altitude air-defense capabilities," Ashdown told the Washington Post. IHS Jane's also said that the equipment could have been on its way to North Korea to be upgraded.

Martinelli said that Panamanian authorities had suspected that the ship was carrying drugs and brought it into port for search and inspection. "When we started to unload the shipment of sugar we located containers that we believe to be sophisticated missile equipment, and that is not allowed," he said, adding that the crew "rioted" during the operation, while the captain tried to commit suicide.