N Korea still selling N technology: UN

A UN expert panel has claimed that North Korea is violating sanctions imposed on it and exporting banned nuclear and ballistic missile technology to several ‘rogue’ nations like Iran, Syria and Myanmar, a media report said on Friday.

A UN expert panel has claimed that North Korea is violating sanctions imposed on it and exporting banned nuclear and ballistic missile technology to several ‘rogue’ nations like Iran, Syria and Myanmar, a media report said on Friday.

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In a 75-page report, the seven-member panel reporting to the UN Security Council states that North Korea is involved in “nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities in certain countries, including Iran, Syria and Myanmar” and that special attention should be given by all member countries to curb such activities.

The report, which was released this week, had been delayed for publication for six months by China, a friendly nation to North Korea, CNN quoted a diplomat familiar with the case as saying.

The experts wrote that North Korea is getting around UN —imposed sanctions and is masking financial transactions by the use of “overseas entities, shell companies, informal transfer mechanisms, cash couriers and barter arrangements.”

The report goes on to say that North Korea “has established a highly sophisticated international network for the acquisition, marketing and sale of arms and military equipment, and arms exports have become one of the country’s principal sources for obtaining foreign exchange.”

It said North Korea is believed to be using air cargo to handle high-valued and sensitive arms exports. Such cargo can be sent by direct air cargo from the country to the destination country.

The North Korean government had no immediate response to the report, CNN reported.