S'pore firm charged over Pyongyang arms funding

[SINGAPORE] For the first time here, the law under the United Nations Act has been invoked, with criminal charges laid against a Singapore-registered shipping firm for allegedly financing activities related to weapons of mass destruction in North Korea.

Chinpo Shipping Company (Private) Limited faces one charge of transferring some US$72,000 on July 8 last year from its Bank of China account to C B Fenton and Co, a shipping agent in the Panama Canal.

The prosecution alleges that the money "may have been used to contribute to the nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes or activities" of North Korea.