North Korea’s Illegal Weapons Pipeline Flows On

I am grateful to the Wall Street Journal for maintaining visibility on north Korea's weapons exports which are of course key to regime survival and also support enemies of the US and the free world.  Note at the very least China turns a blind eye these activities.

V/R

Dave

• Updated November 27, 2012, 9:18 p.m. ET

North Korea’s Illegal Weapons Pipeline Flows On

By JAY SOLOMON in Washington, YUKA HAYASHI in Tokyo and COLUM MURPHY in Shanghai

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323830404578144981537771060.html?mod=WSJAsia_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Illegal shipments of missile technology and weapons from North Korea have flowed unabated under the leadership of Kim Jong Eun, dashing Western hopes that Pyongyang’s new leader might moderate his country’s aggressive proliferation activities.

Ships or planes bound for Myanmar and Syria and loaded with weapons-related equipment originating in North Korea have been diverted or blocked in recent months, U.S., Asian and Arab officials say. The United Nations has imposed sanctions against Pyongyang’s weapons trade.

The disclosures come amid new fears that North Korea is preparing for its second long-range missile launch since Mr. Kim took power in late 2011. Satellite images this week showed increased activity at North Korea’s satellite-launch station on its western coast.

The Obama administration and allied governments have been hoping to test Mr. Kim’s willingness to more directly engage Washington and perhaps open up his isolated nation. U.S. officials note that the younger Kim is the first North Korean leader who didn’t live through the 1950-53 Korean War. And the Swiss-educated dictator, believed to have been born in 1983 or 1984, has initiated some economic reforms, reorganized the military and shown a liking for Western pop music since succeeding his late father, Kim Jong Il.

Nonetheless, North Korea’s continued arms exports and missile tests are signs that the younger Mr. Kim has little desire—or ability—to change Pyongyang’s roguish behavior. Indeed, U.S. and Asian officials said they are still not certain if Mr. Kim has fully consolidated power over North Korea’s generals. And the cash-strapped North is desperately in need of the hard currency it gets from arms exports.

U.S. officials believe North Korea has remained one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest partners, helping develop Damascus’s missile and chemical-weapons programs even as a civil war has engulfed the Arab country. U.N. inspectors believe Damascus and Pyongyang secretly built a nuclear reactor in eastern Syria before Israeli jets destroyed the facility in 2007.

(Continued at the link below)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323830404578144981537771060.html?mod=WSJAsia_hpp_LEFTTopStories