North Korean Ship Boarded in Indian Waters Not Carrying Banned Cargo

That North Korean ship that was boarded, searched, and investigated after being caught lurking suspiciously in Indian waters turns out to have been carrying “genuine” cargo after all.  As we all eagerly anticipate John Feffer and Christine Ahn’s outcry that the ship’s captain was unfairly profiled for “boating while North Korean,” the rest of us can only shake our heads and wonder why the ship was behaving so suspiciously:

A day after a North Korean ship was detained at Port Blair after it had anchored in suspicious circumstances off an Indian island, Navy Chief Sureesh Mehta said the vessel was carrying “˜genuine merchandise’ but had “˜no business’ to be present at the location. [….]

The vessel did not respond to calls on the hailing frequency by a Dornier aircraft that had been scrambled by the Coast Guard and tried to turn away when an Indian warship approached it.

The vessel was then escorted to Port Blair and preliminary investigations say it is carrying a cargo of sugar to Iraq.

“The fact is that the ship had no business to be there. There were apprehensions (that it was carrying nuclear components).  [Indian Express]

Sometimes I think the North Koreans behave like goons out of sheer force of habit.