Experts tie NKorea to chemical weapons in Syria
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea has been shipping supplies to the Syrian government that could be used in the production of chemical weapons, United Nations experts contend.
The evidence of a North Korean connection comes as the United States and other countries have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons on civilians, including recent attacks on civilians in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta using what appears to have been chlorine gas.
The supplies from North Korea include acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers, according to a report by U.N. investigators. North Korean missile technicians also have been spotted working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria, according to the report, which was written by a panel of experts who looked at North Korea’s compliance with U.N. sanctions.
The report highlights the potential danger posed by any such trade between Syria and North Korea, which could allow Syria to maintain its chemical weapons while also providing North Korea with cash for its nuclear and missile programs.
The possible chemical weapons components were part of at least 40 previously unreported shipments by North Korea to Syria between 2012 and 2017 of prohibited ballistic missile parts and materials that could be used for both military and civilian purposes, according to the report, which has not been publicly released but which was reviewed by The New York Times.
Neither the report’s authors nor members of the U.N. Security Council who have seen it would comment, and neither would the U.S. mission to the international agency.
It is unclear when, or even whether, the report will be released.
The eight experts who make up the panel all come from different countries and possess specific expertise in areas such as weapons of mass destruction, maritime transport and customs controls. Since 2010, the panel has had a mandate from the Security Council to investigate possible sanctions violations by North Korea and present its findings in an annual report.
Though experts who viewed the report said the evidence it cited did not prove definitively that there was current, continuing collaboration between North Korea and Syria on chemical weapons, they said it did provide the most-detailed account to date of efforts to circumvent sanctions intended to curtail the military advancement of both countries.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, there have been suspicions that North Korea was providing equipment and expertise to maintain the chemical weapons program of Syria’s president, Bashar Assad. Those suspicions were not assuaged when in 2013 Syria signed onto the Chemical Weapons Convention and claimed to give up its chemical weapons stocks.
The military-related cooperation, if confirmed, indicates major shortcomings in the international effort to isolate both countries. The shipments would have eluded detection even though both nations are subject to highly restrictive sanctions, and are under the intense scrutiny of U.S. and other spy services.
The report documents the many ways the government of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has tried to circumvent sanctions. It also criticizes Russia and China for failing to do enough to enforce sanctions on items such as oil, coal and luxury goods.
Top diplomat on Koreas leaving US government
Joseph Yun, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. foreign service who has retained quiet contacts with North Korea, is retiring as Washington and Pyongyang step up considerations for formal diplomatic talks.
Yun told The Associated Press he will stand down as special representative for North Korean policy on Friday. He said his decision to retire is his own, but it comes at a surprising juncture, just after South Korea relayed that the North is open to direct discussions with the United States. His departure will leave the Trump administration without an envoy for engaging North Korea or an ambassador in South Korea. Yun has been the State Department’s point man for its limited contact with the North Korean government through a back channel at the U.S. diplomatic mission to the United Nations. The adversaries from the Korean War don’t have formal relations, and the so-called New York channel is the primary means for conveying messages between the two governments.
“One of my accomplishments has been to open the New York channel soon after the Trump administration got in,” Yun told the AP. “That allowed for direct talks and direct communication.”
Yun visited Pyongyang in June to secure the release of college student Otto Warmbier, an Ohioan who had been imprisoned for 17 months for stealing a poster. Warmbier died days after his repatriation. Yun has been frustrated by North Korea’s reluctance to release other Americans held in North Korea.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “reluctantly” accepted Yun’s decision.