The Rest of the Story: Sure enough, there was more to North Korean Scud shipment incident than was originally reported. The
Times of London reports that "the high seas ambush of a North Korean freighter was intended" by the United States "as a warning shot to the regime in Pyongyang."
And it seems that the United States knew what was going on even before the cargo was loaded onto the ship:
Satellites had followed the consignment of Scuds from the time it left the factory last month. They watched the missiles being loaded on to the freighter, So San, at Nampo harbour and shadowed the vessel on its journey . . . US authorities knew they risked upsetting Yemen, a valued ally, but the Bush Administration thought it more important to seize the 15 Scud missiles on board and teach the North Koreans a lesson . . . Last night Washington gave warning that there would be more raids if the North Koreans did not stop exporting such lethal weaponry . . . One senior American official said: “We hope Pyongyang got the message: ‘We are watching your every move.’”
Now that's effective diplomacy.
