Mexico "forcibly detained" a North Korean ship after it ran aground off its Gulf coast last year, and Pyongyang claims the country is preventing the vessel's release due to pressure from the United States, the Associated Press reported.

But the Mu Du Bong is owned by a North Korean company that is under international sanctions and Mexican authorities acted correctly when the "froze" the ship, an U.N. panel of experts countered. In fact, the body praised the excellent cooperation local officials provided when it came to tracking the company and its assets, the news service added.

Ocean Maritime Management Co., its parent, was punished last year after Panamanian authorities found two Cuban fighter jets, missiles and live munitions beneath a cargo of sugar on another ship it operated. The company reacted by renaming 13 of its 14 vessels in an effort to avoid detection, according to the U.N. panel.

The Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations said the detention of the Mu Du Bong was merely the result of the country's complying with international law, CNN noted.

"Because the company has avoided the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the Mexican government is acting on the basis of its international obligations as a responsible U.N. member state," it said in a statement.

But An Myong Hun, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, denied that Mexico had a valid reason to hold the vessel and accused its government of violating crew members' human rights by keeping them from their families, the news channel added.

"Mu Du Bong is a peaceful merchant ship, and it has not shipped any items prohibited by international laws or regulations," An told reporters at the U.N. headquarters Wednesday. "And we have already paid full compensation to Mexican authorities according to its domestic laws," the diplomat added.

The 6,700-ton freighter, which had originally traveled to Cuba, had hit a reef near Tuxpan in Mexico's eastern Veracruz state in July last year, Reuters detailed.