WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. official says a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back the way it came, after being tracked for days by American vessels on suspicion it was carrying illicit weapons.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, says it is unclear whether the Kang Nam is going back to its home port in North Korea or diverting elsewhere.

The ship left a North Korean port on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material.

It was suspected the Kang Nam was going to Myanmar. But the U.S. official says that after a week-and-a half at sea, it turned around on Sunday or Monday. It was off the coast of Vietnam on Tuesday.

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