North Korea sent banned chemical items to Syria

NEW YORK — North Korea sent items used in ballistic missile and chemical weapons programmes to Syria along with missile technicians in violation of UN sanctions — and banned ballistic missiles systems to Myanmar, UN experts said.

The panel of experts monitoring sanctions against North Korea said its investigations into Pyongyang’s transfer of prohibited ballistic missile, conventional arms and dual use goods found more than 40 previously unreported shipments to Syria between 2012 and 2017.

It said an unnamed UN member state also reported evidence of Myanmar’s receipt of a range of conventional weapons from North Korea including multiple rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles in addition to ballistic missile systems. AP reported on February 2 that according to the experts’ report, North Korea was flouting UN sanctions on oil and gas, engaging in prohibited ballistic missile co-operation with Syria and Myanmar, and illegally exporting commodities that brought in nearly $200m in just nine months in 2017.

AP obtained details from the more than 200-page report late on Tuesday, including the panel’s findings related to chemical weapons in Syria.

The US and other Western nations have accused Syria of using chemical weapons against rebel-controlled areas including recently in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, which President Bashar Assad’s government denies.

The report to the UN Security Council, which diplomats expect to be made public in mid-March, details “substantial new evidence” about North Korea’s dealings with Syria, dating back to 2008.

According to an unidentified member state, the North’s Ryonhap-2 Corporation was involved that year in a Syrian ballistic missile programme, the “manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle (MARV) Scud D (MD) project”, the report said.

More recently, it said the August 2016 visit by a technical delegation from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - the country’s official name — “involved the transfer to Syria of special resistance valves and thermometers known for use in chemical weapons programmes”.

That information came from another member state which also reported that North Korean technicians “continue to operate at chemical weapons and missile facilities at Barzeh, Adra and Hama”, the report said.

It quoted Syria’s reply to the panel about the reports: “There are no DPRK technical companies in Syria and the only presence of some DPRK individuals are confined in the field of sports under private individual contracts for training athletics and gymnastics.” — AP