The North Korean connection
MELBOURNE: Australian police yesterday said they had arrested a man accused of working on the black market to sell missile components and coal on behalf of North Korea, the first charges ever brought in Australia over the sale of weapons of mass destruction.
The man had been charged with two counts under an Act preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, police said, and with another four under legislation enforcing United Nations and Australian sanctions against North Korea.
The Sydney man was identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other media as 59yearold Chan Han Choi, who they said had been living in Australia for more than 30 years and was of Korean descent.
He was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood on Saturday and was due to face court yesterday, police said.
He came to the attention of authorities earlier this year, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said.
‘‘This man was a loyal agent of North Korea who believed he was acting to serve some higher patriotic purpose,’’ AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters.
‘‘This case is like nothing we have ever seen on Australian soil,’’ he said.
Police will allege the man tried to broker the sale of North Korean missile components, including software for the guidance systems of ballistic missiles, as well as trying to sell North Korean coal to third parties in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Gaughan said the trade could have been worth ‘‘tens of millions of dollars’’ if successful.
Cashstrapped North Korea has come under a new round of stricter United Nations sanctions this year after pressing ahead with its missile and nuclear programmes, in defiance of international pressure.
Tensions have risen dramatically on the Korean peninsula because of the North’s ballistic missile launches and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, as well as joint military drills between South Korea and the US the North describes as preparation for war.
Pyongyang said its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November had the range to reach all of the United States.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged North Korea on Saturday to carry out a ‘‘sustained cessation’’ of its weapons testing to allow talks about its missile and nuclear programmes.
However, the North has shown little interest in talks until it has the ability to hit the US mainland with a nucleartipped missile, which many experts assert it has yet to prove.
Gaughan said the man had been in touch with highranking North Korean officials but no missile components ever made it to Australia. He also said there was no indication officials in Indonesia or Vietnam had been involved in the attempted coal sales.
‘‘This is black market 101,’’ Gaughan said.
‘‘We are alleging that all the activity occurred offshore, and was purely another attempt for this man to trade goods and services as a way to raise revenue for the Government of North Korea,’’ he said.
The man faces up to 18 years in jail if convicted.
A South Korea’s foreign minister will visit Japan this week to meet her Japanese counterpart, the foreign ministry said yesterday, with Seoul and Tokyo seeking to boost cooperation over the handling of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Kang Kyungwha will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow and meet Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono during her twoday visit, her first trip to Japan as South Korea’s top diplomat.
‘‘The two ministers will exchange views on . . . North Korearelated issues, including its nuclear programme,’’ a minis try statement said. South Korea and Japan are seeking to improve security cooperation over North Korea, but there have been conflicting signals over whether they can resolve a feud over ‘‘comfort women’’ who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels.
Ties have been frozen over the issue, as South Korean President Moon Jaein has promised to renegotiate an unpopular 2015 pact signed with Japan.
Under that pact, Japan apologised again to former comfort women and promised ¥1 billion ($NZ12.7 million) to help them. The governments said the issue would be ‘‘irreversibly resolved’’ if both fulfilled their obligations. — Reuters