Portraits of smiling dictators decorate seized North Korean ’weapons’ ship

sorry for them. they missed fidel & raul castro's portraits.

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photoblog

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

The Chong Chon Gang docks at the Manzanillo International Container Terminal in Colon City, Panama, on Tuesday.

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

Portraits of former leaders Kim Jong Il (right) and Kim Il Sung are seen in one of the rooms aboard the North Korean-flagged Chong Chon Gang after it docked in Colon City, Panama, on Tuesday.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Wrtier, NBC News

If the loyalty of the crew of a North Korean cargo ship detained in Panama after weapons were found on board was ever in doubt, photographs from inside the ship suggest they were devoted to the rogue communist state’s ruling family.
At least two different rooms on the Chong Chon Gang had pictures of President Kim Il Sung  - the founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – and his late son Kim Jong Il.
Both sets of photographs of the smiling, late dictators were given pride of place, high on the walls.

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

Portraits of crew members are seen in one of the rooms inside the Chong Chon Gang on Tuesday.

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

Portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il-sung are seen in one of the rooms on the Chong Chon Gang on Tuesday.

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

Part of a green missile-shaped object is seen aboard the Chong Chon Gang on Tuesday.

There were also photographs of the 35-strong crew, who have been detained in Fort Sherman, a former U.S. military base in Panama.
Other images from the ship showed more of the military equipment that was on its way from Cuba to North Korea -- possibly in breach of United Nations sanctions.
Cuba’s government said that the ship was carrying “240 metric tons of obsolete defensive weapons -- two anti-aircraft missile complexes Volga and Pechora, nine missiles in parts and spares, two Mig-21 Bis and 15 motors for this type of airplane, all of it manufactured in the mid-20th century -- to be repaired and returned to Cuba."
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said late Monday that “sophisticated missile equipment” had been found.
The U.N. is set to investigate the situation but one expert said he thought Cuba’s actions were a breach of the embargo.

Arnulfo Franco / AP

Military equipment is seen in containers aboard the North Korean-flagged vessel on Tuesday.

James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of respected military affairs magazine Jane’s Defence Weekly, said the equipment Cuba said was on the ship was “pretty well covered” by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874.
The resolution says all member states shall “prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” to North Korea of “any battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register on Conventional Arms, or related materiel including spare parts.”
Hardy said that the “argument that it is just for repair doesn’t wash – it would be covered by ‘direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer.’”
“So in short, Cuba appears to be in breach – and pretty heavily,” he said.

Alejandro Bolivar / EPA

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli (left) speaks with officials during a tour of the ship on Tuesday.

Arnulfo Franco / AP

A crew member sleeps on a mattress aboard the seized ship on Tuesday.

Alejandro Bolivar / EPA

A group of men work clearing a container hidden in the North Korean flagged ship Chong Chon Gang, docked at the pier in Manzanillo, Colon, Panama, on Tuesday.

Hardy added that the presence of MiG-21s in the shipment was “particularly intriguing given that North Korea has been trying to acquire MiG-21 engines and spare parts via a former Mongolian Air Force commander.”

However, he said that it was “probable” that Cuba was looking to have some of the equipment refurbished by North Korea.
“The S-125 Neva/Pechora … and S-75 Volga-M … systems are both in North Korean service … but Pyongyang is also believed to have more up-to-date systems in service, including an S-300 'look-alike' long-range surface-to-air missile system shown at a 2012 military parade,” Hardy added.
The United Nations said in a statement Tuesday that it expected Panama would notify the U.N.’s committee on North Korean sanctions and that an expert panel “created specifically to investigate such incidents will be conducting a thorough review.”
“If it is confirmed that the vessel was carrying arms or related materiel and that the shipment was part of a purchase or sale to or from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, then there would indeed be a breach of the U.N. sanctions regime relating to that country,” the U.N. statement said.
Related:

• Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

Carlos Jasso / Reuters

A worker inspects the North Korean-flagged ship Chong Chon Gang on Tuesday.

Arnulfo Franco / AP

A Panamanian police stands guard in an empty corridor aboard the North Korean-flagged ship on Tuesday.