Tokyo: S Korean intelligence service believes that North Korea exported double the amount of weapons this year than in 2008, violating the UN sanctions, Seoul newspaper Dong-A Blob reported today.
The sources believe that in addition to its traditional
markets in the Middle East Pyongyang succeeded to make
military supplies in Africa and Southeast Asia. Along with
light small arms North Korea also exports missiles in these
countries, the sources said.
Umbrella companies and forged shipping documents were
used for the illegal weapons exports, they said.
The South Korean intelligence service said since 2003 the
United States launched an active campaign against the
proliferation of mass destruction weapons. North Korea's
military exports dropped to 49.6 million dollars in 2007.
However, the sources reaffirm that the military supplies
started growing since the previous year.
An airplane I-76 rented by a Georgian company with weapons
supplies from North Korea, including surface-to-air missiles,
was detained in Bangkok last Saturday. Its crew consisting of
Kazakh and Bulgarian citizens were arrested. The UN Security
Council adopted a resolution prohibiting the trade in weapons
for North Korea this year.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 19:19