North Korean Explosion Prevents Missile Shipment to Syria
May 18, 2004 :: East Asia Intel :: News
The April 22 railroad explosion near the North Korean northwestern province of Ryongchon seems to have exposed a link between North Korea-Syria in ballistic missile proliferation. The “train collision” is said to have destroyed missiles and other “large equipment” bound for Syria, as well as a dozen North Korean-trained Syrian technicians for Syria’s country’s Center for Scientific Research. The explosion is said to have measured 3.6 on the Richter scale.
Moreover, reports East Asia Intel, the missile components were heading from a region near the Chinese border to a North Korean port. Some dispute whether China or North Korea will hold the title for the biggest exporter of ballistic missiles to the middle east. But is it also possible that China is complicit in North Korean proliferation? ( (Article, Link)
» Middle East Newsline report on train explosion
» Imagery of explosion from globalsecurity.org
» More stories on: China, North Korea, Proliferation, Syria
North Korea Set to Test Missile Engines
May 6, 2004 :: Spacewar.com :: News
Amidst global attention to Iraq prison scandals, there has been a flurry of news regarding North Korean missiles.
Most recent is a report that the small communist nation is preparing to test for the first time engines probably for the Taepo Dong II intercontinental ballistic missile, reports from the JoongAng South Korean newspaper. An unnamed official is quoted as observing that “We have confirmed that they have moved the crane that would hoist the oxidizer — the liquid fuel of the missile — and the rocket.”
The Taepo Dong I missile of a shorter range was launched over Japan in 1998. The two stage version of the Taepo-Dong II is believed to use a Chinese liquid fuel engine for its first stage, and the North Korean Rodoing missile as its second stage. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Taep'o-dong 2
North Korean Taepo-Dong II Now For Sale
May 5, 2004 :: Worldtribune.com :: News
Quoting “western intelligence sources,” worldtribune.com reports that North Korea has begun to offer its long-range Taepo-Dong II for sale to several middle eastern nations.
The news comes just days after other reports that North Korea is building new missile bases, developing new missiles, has “at least” eight nuclear weapons, and, ironically enough, that Kim Jong Il pledged to the United States that he would not transfer ballistic missiles to terrorists. The sale of missiles is, however, North Korea’s primary source of revenue.
Likely buyers include another rogue state and state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, which has apparently been negotiating a purchase with Pyongyang. Worldtribune’s source says that 2003 negotiations for the purchase of the Taepo-Dong by Syria and Libya apparently were not pursued, but that Iran was considering the Taepo-Dong as a possible basis for the its ICBM program, the Shahab-5, the development of the engines for which China is also named as an aid.
Depending on the version of the Taepo-Dong II, the intercontinental missile has a range of 6000km or more. The three stage version of the missile has a range capable of striking the continental United States. (Article, Link)
» Dec. 14, 1999: North Korea Readies Taepo-Dong I missiles for sale to Iran
» Dec. 7, 1999: U.S. expects Iran will be North Korea’s first ICBM customer
» May 5, 2004: Middle East Newswire on Taepo Dong Market
» May 6, 2004: LA Times: North Korea “may” have missile to reach Guam
» More stories on: China, North Korea, Proliferation
» Missile details: Shahab-3, Taep'o-dong 2
North Korea: No Nukes to Terrorists
May 4, 2004 :: SpaceDaily :: News
In an effort to curry good well from the United States, North Korea has recently pledged to not sell nuclear materials to terrorist groups. But such an interest in negotiating is almost certainly a façade, aimed at shoring up its ability to proliferate missiles and weapons of mass destruction with impunity. Even while making the pledge, however, North Korean deputy to Kim Jong Il Kim Yong-nam, insisted in an interview that they “are entitled to sell missiles to earn foreign exchange.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Proliferation
North Korea Building More Bases for “New” Missiles
May 4, 2004 :: The Chosun Ilbo (S. Korea) :: News
North Korea is currently building additional bases for mobile intermediate range missiles with a range of 4,000km which are capable of reaching Hawaii, reports the South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper. United States intelligence satellites have identified some 10 new ballistic missiles and launchers at two locations which were not their previously, said an unidentified official: “One of the new bases was in Yangdok, 80 kilometers east of the capital Pyongyang, and the other was in Hochon in South Hamgyong province, the official said.” The same source noted that “these bases are assumed to be the bases for new ballistic missiles and not for Scuds or Ro Dong-1 missiles.”
The Chosun Ilbo reports further that these new missiles may be of Russian origin:
The new ballistic missile is presumed to be a modified model of the former Soviet Union’s SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile, and was originally expected to be revealed to the public at the 9 September festival [founding anniversary of the DPRK] in 2003. North Korea, however, only moved 10 of these missiles and five mobile launching pads to the Mirim Airport, where the parade was prepared, but did not actually show them during the parade.
This missile is 12 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, and is thus shorter than the Ro Dong-1 (15 metres long) and Taepo Dong-1 (23 metres), but its range is much longer and is evaluated to be more advanced in technology.
Relevant authorities believe that former Soviet missile scientists may have directly participated in the development or at least Russian technology was utilized in [the building of the] missile, whose development started in the early 1990s and whose existence was first confirmed by ROK and US intelligence authorities in 2000.
(Article, Link)
» Description of new missile, “No-Dong B”
» Chosun Ilbo text, via Financial Times (subscription)
» More stories on: North Korea, Proliferation, Russia
» Missile details: SS-N-6
Patriot Batteries To Go To South Korea
April 30, 2004 :: News
The United States will be adding to its Patriot interceptors in South Korea, with two additional batteries of Patriot Advanced Capability 2 and 3, according to a press release by the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command in Seoul. The batteries will be added at Gwangju Air Base, with the U.S. Eighth Army’s 35th Air Defense Brigade.
Six Patriot batteries were stationed in South Korea’s major bases since 1994. A battery is composed of eight launchers of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles, each having 4 and 16 interceptors, respectively.
In 1998, North Korea fired a Taepo-Dong I missile over Japan. (Article, Link)
» May 6: KCNA news agency, Pyongyang: U.S. to deploy Patriots against North Korea “escalated military threat”
» May 4: EastAsia Intel report on Patriot xfer
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, North Korea
» Missile details: Taep'o-dong 1
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
New CIA Report on North Korea: “At Least 8” Nuclear Weapons
April 28, 2004 :: Washington Post :: News
An upcoming intelligence report by the CIA will substantially up estimates of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal upwards, – from “possibly two” nuclear weapons to at least eight, reports the Washington Post.
The report will also likely reflect a growing intelligence consensus that a distinct North Korean uranium-enrichment program will be operational by 2007 that will be capable of producing material for an additional six weapons per year. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons
Kadish: U.S. Protected from North Korea by End of Year
April 27, 2004 :: Yahoo News :: News
Lt. Gen. Ron Kadish, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters on Tuesday that by the end of the year, the United States should be able to defend against a North Korean ballistic missile attack, after the activation of ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California.
Two more tests of the interceptors are set for this year, with one expected in late spring or early summer. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Policy
Kahn Claims to Have Seen North Korean Nuclear Weapons
April 12, 2004 :: New York Times :: News
Abdul Kahn, widely known as the “father of the Pakistani Bomb” who spearheaded that country’s nuclear program and the proliferation of nuclear technology around the world, has now claimed to have seen and inspected three nuclear devices during a visit to North Korea to aid in their nuclear program, according to the New York Times. The report would be the first such verification by a foreigner of North Korea’s long touted possession of such weapons.
The story has the potential to support the exoneration of Pakistan as a sort of willing partner in the war on nuclear and missile proliferation. Khan and Pakistan, like Qaddafi and Libya, might seem to have fully repented and become an reliable informant or ally for the United States. But that which led to Pakistan-Korth Korea nuclear cooperation and which would prompt North Korea to trust Kahn with an inspection in the first place should be the ground for continued suspicion of both now.
Although Kahn may well have ulterior motives to bolster North Korea’s nuclear threat to the West, that North Korea already has had for some time some nuclear weapons is quite plausible. That it would, however, should serve as a reminder of the failure of the 1994 Accord with North Korea negotiated by the Clinton administration—as well as our previous ill-placed trust in the Pakistani government, which despite its fervent denials almost certainly had to be apartied to such high level transfers of technology. The lesson of the failed policy of appeasement with both these countries should perhaps inform the current negotiations as well. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Proliferation
Nuclear Threat from Possible North Korea-Al Qaeda Union
April 1, 2004 :: Washington Times :: News
Military commanders testifying before the House Armed Services Committee warned of possible nuclear transfers from North Korea to terrorist groups, notes Bill Gertz writing in the Washington Times.
Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, leader of the U.S. Pacific Command, said of al Qaeda that “They have the will and the skill, obviously, to carry out a devastating terrorist attack. So that is kind of a nightmare scenario, and that’s why we feel so strongly about a nonnuclear Korean Peninsula.
Army Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of U.S. forces in Korea, observed that a nuclear-armed North Korea
threatens the entire Northeast Asia region as well as other nations in the Pacific…In addition, they’re a known proliferator of missiles, missiles technology, narcotics and other illegal activities. What’s to prevent North Korea from deciding to sell to other nations or terrorist organizations nuclear-grade — weapons-grade material? That’s a significant concern to all of us. …I agree totally with Admiral Fargo that a nuclear weapon in the hands of a terrorist organization is one of our greatest concerns. And given the history of North Korea relative to selling missiles and missile technology, it’s a concern we must address.
(Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Terrorism
