[Cicero]

The IL-76 freighter plane of Georgian registry

Is the Republic of Georgia involved in this in some way? Were these arms possibly going TO Georgia, since they can't count on Obama to help them against Putin? Or was this somebody else using Georgian registration?

I'm not a fan of North Korea. But I do side with Georgia against Putin's invasion of that country. And Russia appears to be involved in stopping the shipment.

In other words, what's going on here?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Even New Zealand company is implicated. This is a operation by multinational smuggling network. I am not sure some are to be delivered to Georgia. The originally scheduled flight path by this plane strongly suggests that the intended customers are in Africa or Mid-East.

[ksm1]

I highly doubt the Georgian gov’t was involved. They have been purchasing arms from Ukraine anyway and don’t need North Korea. My guess is that it was a private charter company that was offered a ton of money to haul cargo, “no questions asked”, and had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

[myknowledge]

Or was this somebody else using Georgian registration?

Using foreign registration is nothing new. It's most done to avoid certain levies and taxes. Why are Panamanian and Liberian flags commonly flown aboard tankers and freighters?

[bert]

......Is the Republic of Georgia involved in this in some way?.....

The way I read it is that a Georgian company that owns an old but large Russian cargo plane contracted to carry freight for the North Korean Airline/air freight forwarder. The Government of Georgia was not a party to the transaction and unlike the US government does not disallow dealings with the Norkos.