By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 17 --The North Korean mission to the UN held a press conference at its office on Second Avenue on April 8, at which its Deputy Permanent Representative An Myong Hun denounced the continued detention of the Mudubong ship in Mexico.
Now on April 17, the DPRK Mission has sent out this as a press release:
Pyongyang, April 17 (KCNA) -- The manager of the Mudubong Shipping Co. Ltd. gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA Thursday in connection with the fact that its cargo ship Mudubong has been interned for nine months in Mexico for an unjustifiable reason:
Mudubong, a trading cargo ship of our company, was stranded on coral reef off Tuxpan Port of Mexico on July 14, 2014 to be interned by the Mexican authorities for damaging coral reef. After the accident we indemnified losses under Mexican rules including relief fund... Our company has already suffered huge losses. If safe return of Mudubong, legitimate property of our company, is held in check, we are thinking of taking legal measures to
have damage and losses indemnified.
Mudubong, a trading cargo ship of our company, was stranded on coral reef off Tuxpan Port of Mexico on July 14, 2014 to be interned by the Mexican authorities for damaging coral reef. After the accident we indemnified losses under Mexican rules including relief fund... Our company has already suffered huge losses. If safe return of Mudubong, legitimate property of our company, is held in check, we are thinking of taking legal measures to
have damage and losses indemnified.
On April 8 An Myong Hun said that in January Mexico was going to release the ship, which ran into a Mexican coral reef (damage to which North Korea paid for) - then reversed its position, saying that a UN Under Secretary General had told them to hold the ship.
Inner City Press asked An Myong Hun if that UN Under Secretary General was Angela Kane of Disarmament, soon to be replaced by Kim Won-soo (see Inner City Press' scoop, here). An Myong Hun said that the USG was unnamed - but said the United States was behind the continued "illegal" detention of the ship.