The Kang Nam 1 is a 2,000 ton North Korean cargo ship.It is one of a series of five vessels, owned by the North Korean government, named Kang Nam 1 through Kang Nam 5.According to South Korean media reports, the Kang Nam 1 itself was probably built in Germany in the late 1980s. It then passed through a series of owners to a South Korean maritime firm, which in turn sold it to North Korea. In the summer of 2009, the ship left North Korean waters and entered international waters, probably carrying military equipment bound for Burma while being monitored by the U.S. Navy, before it turned back and headed for North Korea.