Perilous
Times
North Korea, Iran trade nuclear missile technology: U.N.
By Louis Charbonneau | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - North Korea and Iran appear to have been
regularly exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of
U.N. sanctions, according to a confidential U.N. report obtained
by Reuters on Saturday.
The report said the illicit technology transfers had
"trans-shipment through a neighboring third country." That country
was China, several diplomats told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.
The report will likely deepen suspicions about North Korean
cooperation with Iran and heighten concerns about China's
commitment to enforcing the sanctions against Tehran and Pyongyang
due to their nuclear programs, envoys told Reuters.
The report was submitted on Friday to the Security Council by a
U.N. Panel of Experts, a group that monitors compliance with U.N.
sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after it conducted two nuclear
tests in 2006 and 2009.
The U.N. sanctions included a ban on trade in nuclear and missile
technology with North Korea, as well as an arms embargo. They also
banned trade with a number of North Korean firms and called for
asset freezes and travel bans on some North Korean individuals.
"Prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected to have
been transferred between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(North Korea) and the Islamic Republic of Iran on regular
scheduled flights of Air Koryo and Iran Air," the report said.
"For the shipment of cargo, like arms and related materiel, whose
illicit nature would become apparent on any cursory physical
inspection, (North) Korea seems to prefer chartered cargo
flights," it said.
It added that the aircraft tended to fly "from or to air cargo
hubs which lack the kind of monitoring and security to which
passenger terminals and flights are now subject."
Several Security Council diplomats said China was unhappy about
the report and would likely not agree to release it to the public.
At the moment, only the 15 council members have official access to
the document.
One of the experts on the panel is from China and diplomats said
he never endorsed the report, which was delivered to the Security
Council on Friday. His refusal to endorse the report delayed its
submission for around 24 hours, diplomats said.
SIMILAR WARHEADS
Beijing has prevented the publication of expert panel reports on
North Korea and Sudan in the past. Earlier this week, Russia took
similar steps to suppress an equally damning U.N. expert panel
report on Iran.
The spokesman for China's U.N. mission was not available for
comment.
Further evidence of Iran's cooperation with North Korea on missile
technology came during a military parade in October 2010, the
report said, when North Korea displayed a new warhead for its
Nodong missile.
The warhead had "a strong design similarity with the Iranian
Shahab-3 triconic warhead."
The expert panel said there appeared to be no compelling evidence
Myanmar had been developing a secret nuclear program with the help
of North Korea, an allegation that had been raised previously by
the group.
But it did not dismiss the allegations and suggested "extreme
caution" might be needed to prevent North Korean-Myanmar
cooperation from becoming proliferation.
The allegations are due partly to attempts by the former Burma to
acquire items that can be used in a nuclear program.
"While acknowledging the possibility that Myanmar was the end user
of this dual-use equipment, several experts also raised the
possibility that it was serving as a trans-shipment point for
delivery to (North Korea)," the report said.
The report said the possibility of exports of weapons-grade
nuclear material from North Korea or nuclear technology to other
countries remained a concern and presented "new challenges to
international non-proliferation efforts."
U.S., Israeli and European governments have said that North Korea
was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that Israel destroyed in
2007. Damascus denies the charge, which is being investigated by
the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
In its report, the panel said North Korea's uranium enrichment
problem, which Pyongyang says is for civilian purposes, was
"primarily for military purposes."
It added that North Korea "should be compelled to abandon its
uranium enrichment program and that all aspects of the program
should be placed under international monitoring."
The report also said there were concerns about safety at North
Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex. It said "safety issues should be
discussed an integral part of the denuclearization of (North
Korea)."
It added that "reckless decommissioning or dismantlement at
Yongbyon could cause an environmental disaster."
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Peter Cooney and Todd
Eastham)