The United States announced Wednesday that it will provide the government of Panama with assistance to inspect the military weapons found on a North Korean ship, which departed from Cuba this week. "The government of Panama has requested our assistance in this matter ... [and] we intend to provide assistance as best we can," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said during the daily press briefing. "The types of technical assistance we could provide include things like identifying the material on board as well as providing personnel who are familiar with these types of inspections," Harf added. "We stand ready to help. And any allegations of violations to U.N. Security Council resolutions are incredibly concerning to us. We take them very seriously and we are going to support the process going forward," Harf told reporters. The United States commended the government of Panama on Tuesday for detaining the North Korean vessel. After the Panamanian authorities announced the discovery of arms on board, the government asked the United Nations for guidance on how to handle the case.
