[McClatchy] The 430-foot-long North Korean freighter Mu Du Bong was riding high in the water when the vessel crashed into a coral reef in Mexican waters in the Gulf of Mexico last July 14. The freighter did more than destroy coral, it also smashed into UN sanctions that have kept it in the hands of the Mexican government.Salvage vessels brought the freighter to port in Tuxpan, where it has been for nine months. North Korea has declined to repatriate the 33 crew members, and they occasionally can be seen fishing off the ship's deck.
Earlier this month, North Korea's deputy representative to the UN made somewhat menacing remarks demanding that Mexico terminate what he called a "complete abnormal situation," adding, "We will take necessary measures to make the ship leave immediately."