What’s the Russian Word for “Pueblo?”

A Russian cargo ship has been detained and boarded by armed coastguard agents in North Korean waters, Russian maritime officials say. The Lida Demesh, carrying a consignment of cars from Japan, was heading for the Russian port of Vladivostok when it was stopped by patrol near Cape Musudan. [BBC]

Musudan-ri is absolutely the wrong section of North Korea’s coastline to approach. The area is infamous for such attractions as a missile test site, a nuclear test site, and a large concentration camp. North Korea has previously claimed an “exclusion zone” in those waters. The Russian ship, apparently blown off-course by strong winds, came well within the standard 12.5 mile limit recognized by most countries:

On Saturday, an official at Vladivostok’s maritime rescue centre, Vladimir Yeroshkin, said the Lida Demesh had been detained and boarded by the North Korean coastguard about 3-5 nautical miles (5.5km) from Cape Musudan.

“An armed group boarded the ship and ordered the captain to change course and go to a North Korean port [Chongjin],” he told the Russian NTV network. Mr Yeroshkin said the centre had been told the ship’s 25 crew-members were fine and that there had been no threat to their lives.

North Korea claims a 50-kilometer naval exclusion zone off its coasts, although as recently as 2003, it tried to bag some U.S. Air Force hostages who were flying 150 kilometers from its coastline.