U.N. member state cancels registration of N. Korean vessels: official

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- A country that has allowed North Korean vessels to sail under its flag has canceled the registrations in line with United Nations sanctions on the communist regime, a senior government official said Sunday. Without naming the country, the official told reporters that it was one of several nations that allowed the North to skirt taxes and other regulations under a practice called flag of convenience. The vessels whose registrations were canceled belonged to the Ocean Maritime Management Company, which has been blacklisted under U.N. sanctions. Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council adopted a new resolution punishing Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch last month. Among other sanctions measures, the resolution requires U.N. member states to ban the entry of 31 vessels belonging to OMM and to impound them at port. Of those ships, 10 have been registered in other countries. "Our government will hold talks with relevant nations and continue to make diplomatic efforts to have the registration of the other OMM vessels also canceled," the official said. "I understand that some of the OMM ships have been sent back after being denied entry at their destinations." In early March, the Philippines seized the North Korean ship Jin Teng, becoming the first country to enforce the new U.N. sanctions. The official said the UNSC will take immediate steps to draw up another resolution under the so-called trigger clause should the North carry out its threats to conduct further nuclear and ballistic missile tests. hague@yna.co.kr (END)