Japan reports to U.N. details of North Korean tanker suspected of violating sanctions

Japan has notified the United Nations about a North Korean tanker spotted in the East China Sea that it suspects was engaged in a transfer of goods with another tanker in defiance of U.N. sanctions, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles capable of hitting the United States has spurred deepening U.N. Security Council sanctions and stoked fears of a military conflict.

According to a statement issued by Japan's Foreign Ministry, the North Korean-flagged tanker Rye Song Gang 1 — blacklisted by the United Nations last month for carrying banned cargo — was spotted by a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane tied up beside the Dominican-flagged tanker "Yuk Tung" in the East China Sea on Saturday.