Leaked sanctions panel paper says 40 items sent that could be used in arms programmes

North Korea sent Syria more than 40 items used in ballistic missile and chemical weapons programmes in the five years from 2012-17, a leaked UN report has said.

The panel of experts monitoring sanctions against North Korea said its investigations into Pyongyang’s transfer of prohibited ballistic missile, conventional arms and dual use goods found the previously unreported shipments.

It said an unnamed UN member state also reported evidence that Myanmar received a range of conventional weapons from North Korea including multiple rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles in addition to ballistic missile systems.

The US and other western nations have accused Syria of using chemical weapons in rebel-controlled areas, including recently in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, which Bashar Assad’s government denies.

The more than 200-page report to the UN security council, which diplomats expect to be made public in mid-March, details “substantial new evidence” about North Korea’s dealings with Syria, dating back to 2008.

According to an unidentified member state, North Korea’s Ryonhap-2 corporation was involved that year in a Syrian ballistic missile programme, the report said.

More recently, it said, a visit by a technical delegation from North Korea in August 2016 “involved the transfer to Syria of special resistance valves and thermometers known for use in chemical weapons programmes”.

That information came from another member state, which also reported that North Korean technicians “continue to operate at chemical weapons and missile facilities at Barzeh, Adra and Hama”, the report said.

It quoted Syria’s reply to the panel about the reports: “There are no [North Korean] technical companies in Syria and the only presence of some [North Korean] individuals are confined in the field of sports under private individual contracts for training athletics and gymnastics.”

The UN experts added that they had not yet received a reply with documents supporting this claim and a list of all North Koreans who had travelled to Syria.

The panel said it also examined shipments interdicted by member states that were sent by the Chinese company Cheng Tong Trading Co to Damascus-based companies in 2016 and 2017.

The experts said 13 shipping containers were filled with “acid-resistant tiles” that would cover 5,000 sq metres, enough for a large-scale industrial project. One country’s analysis concluded that the tiles “were to be used for activities conducted at high temperatures”, the panel said, while another country said the material “can be used to build bricks for the interior walls of [a] chemical factory”.

The panel also said it continued its investigations into the activities of Ryu Jin, a senior official in Syria for the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation known as KOMID, who is on the UN sanctions blacklist. He listed his rank as a major general in a letter with an official proposal to Syrian major general Ali Salim of the Army Supply Bureau for “an air defence command and control system”, it said.

KOMID is North Korea’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.

The report said, among other activities, Ryu Jin shipped ball bearings and fibre-optic cables to Syria and earned €56,000 and €48,000 respectively, which was transferred through Tanchon Commercial bank.

Bron: The Gaurdian
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-says-un-report

Eigen mening

So what? Al verzenden ze knuffelberen naar Syrië... het land is in oorlog.

Sinds Noord-Korea een bondgenoot is van Rusland, en Rusland ook een bondgenoot is van Syrië... is het niet verbazend dat er een rechtstreeks verband bestaat tussen Syrië en Noord-Korea. Dit blijkt ook effectief zo te zijn, Syrië is één van de weinige landen die op positieve voet staat met het regime daar. Dit kunnen we terugvinden in het feit dat Syrië in 2015 nog een park heeft vernoemd naar de Noord-Koreaanse leider, Kim II-Sung. Dit om hun respect te tonen.

Dat Noord-Korea een ander land helpt dat in oorlog is met rebellen gesteund door dubieuze bronnen... is dan ook geen verrassing.

Daarbijkomende is een land dat in oorlog is afhankelijk van al die hem willen steunen. Syrië, Rusland, Noord-Korea... worden al jaren afgeschilderd als de "slechte" op deze planeet. Dat zij nu samenspannen om zich te verdedigen tegen al dat hen probeert te beschadigen, kan alleen maar aangemoedigd worden.

Als we een lijst moeten schrijven over de scheve schaatsen die de andere UN-staten al hebben gemaakt, dan zijn wij hier ook even mee bezig.

Dus al bij al, laat ze hun oorlog daar uitvechten. Europa kan zich beter focussen op alles wat hier mis gaat. Wanneer dit opgelost is en alle lidstaten in één richting kunnen varen, dan pas kan het zich gaan moeien op wereldvlak. De VN zelve... daar zullen nog een aantal aanpassingen moeten gebeuren voor alles daar ook helder is. Dat ze maar eens beginnen met uit hun vorige fiasco's te leren en effectief acties te ondernemen. Als zij zich zo graag als de wereldlijke representatieve macht willen voordoen, zullen ze eerst geloofwaardig moeten worden.