Moon Chung-in calls for U.S. to release N. Korea’s cargo ship

Moon Chung-in, a special advisor to President Moon Jae-in of South Korea for Foreign Affairs and National Security, has called for the United States to release the Wise Honest, North Korea’s cargo ship it had seized, to rebuild momentum for dialogue.

In the meeting of the National Unification Advisory Council in New York Friday (local time), Moon said that he believes Washington should first return the Wise Honest, which is detained in American Samoa, to overcome the current stalemate in negotiations, according to Radio Free Asia on Saturday. He also reportedly said that North Korea and the United States may have to discuss the matter since there’s no progress in talks between the two sides.

The United States announced on May 10 that it had seized, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the North’s cargo ship, suspected of carrying North Korea’s coal in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. Meanwhile, a spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday slammed Washington’s move as a “gangster-like act.”


In-Chan Hwang hic@donga.com