THE Philippines will continue to hold the impounded North Korean cargo ship MV Jin Teng and its crew members until the government completes its investigation on the ship’s cargo and its mission.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Tuesday that a meeting had been convened on Monday between the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Coast Guard and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to discuss the actions to be taken on the impounded North Korean ship.
“It was decided that the Coast Guard will continue to hold the vessel at port until the ongoing inquiry and investigation has been completed. It was also agreed that the crew may be allowed to leave if justified by the results of the investigation,” Coloma said.
MV Jin Teng was impounded last week at the Port of Subic in Zambales, in compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270.
The UN resolution, that was unanimously adopted by the 15-member council, called on all UN members to inspect cargo within or transiting through their territory that are destined to or originating from North Korea.
The resolution was meant as a sanction on North Korea’s nuclear testing in January.
The UN resolution also called on the UN members not to supply North Korea with coal, iron, iron ore, gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore and other rare earth minerals.
Coloma said that under the UN resolution, there was no timeline provided within which the Philippine government should have already finished its investigation into the impounded vessel and its presence here.
“Our main concern is that we are compliant with the UN Security Council resolution; and the UN is clear in its resolution on the items that it is interested in. And the purpose of the imposition of sanctions under that resolution is to restrict the movement of such vessels and other vehicles that may be used in transporting the equipment or the armaments that the UN seeks to restrict,” Coloma said.