S Korea raises possible Syria-N Korea weapons link

I think it is very interesting that despite the policy of "trustpolitik" that South Korea has no qualms about calling north Korea on the carpet for its support to a regime nearly (but not quite) as brutal as its own.  The ROK is not going to coddle the north even as it negotiates on Kaesong, reunions, and tourism, even as it offers potential infrastructure development and humanitarian aid.   I think President Park knows how to deal with north Korea. I think we can learn some lessons from her.

V/R

Dave

 

TITLE: S Korea raises possible Syria-N Korea weapons link

POSTED: 05 Sep 2013 4:42 PMURL: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/s-korea-raises-possible/803090.html
South Korea's defence ministry on Thursday called for fresh attention to North Korean chemical weapons, suggesting such arms might have been traded between Pyongyang and Syria.

 

SEOUL: South Korea's defence ministry on Thursday called for fresh attention to North Korean chemical weapons, suggesting such arms might have been traded between Pyongyang and Syria.

The warning comes amid international outrage over the Syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.

"We believe there has been a chemical weapons connection between North Korea and Syria," Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.

Any link between North Korea and the attacks in Syria could further isolate Pyongyang, which is prohibited from international sales of its weapons under UN sanctions for conducting nuclear and missile tests.

Suspicions over chemical weapons trade between Pyongyang and Damascus have been raised in the past.

Concerns have grown since South Korea intercepted a North Korean shipment of protective gear on a vessel sailing near the southern port of Busan in 2009, Kim said.

Later that year Greece also seized almost 14,000 suits that provide protection from chemical weapons on a North Korean ship they believed was headed to Syria.

"Protective gear related to chemical weapons was traded," Kim said, declining to disclose details.

Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported last month that North Korea tried to export gas masks to Syria this spring.

Acting on the tip from the United States, Turkey intercepted a vessel carrying rifles, pistols, ammunition and gas masks, it said.

The North is believed to have up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons deliverable by artillery or missile, Kim said.

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/s-korea-raises-possible/803090.html