A secret report from the United Nations is accusing North Korea of flouting the many, many sanctions against them by using a number of intermediaries to export banned technologies.
The report says the North Korean government is involved in “banned nuclear and ballistic activities” in a number of nations, notably Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The exact extent of those activities is not revealed, but North Korea has been particularly eager to export its ballistic missile tech abroad.
Once incident was the December seizure of a plain carrying banned conventional weapons from North Korea to an unknown destination. The plane was owned by a United Arab Emirate company, registered in Georgia, leased in New Zealand and then chartered by a Hong Kong outfit. The crew were Kazakhs and Belarussians.
In addition North Korea is said to be setting up “assembly” shops abroad in places like the Congo, where they can export components, assemble them, and then export them abroad from a less-sanctioned nation.
North Korea is among the most heavily sanctioned nations on the planet, and the Obama Administration is seeking additional UN Security Council action against them related to a March sinking of a South Korean warship. North Korea denied involvement in the sinking.
