South Korean Army soldiers manoeuvre K-1 tanks during an annual river-crossing exercise on the Han river in Yeoju, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Seoul December 16, 2009. The aim of the exercise is to prepare soldiers for a possible invasion by North Korea.
Weapons probably earn hundreds of millions of dollars of vital foreign currency each year for impoverished North Korea. Mr Kim will find valuable Middle Eastern customers such as Iran wary of doing business if the US and its allies consistently pin down his country's arms' flights.
"This will affect the revenue stream," said Daniel Pinkston, at the International Crisis Group. "It is a sign of the increasing risk of doing business for the buyers, who are also violating United Nations Security Council resolution 1874."
The resolution, passed after North Korea carried out its second nuclear test in May, is aimed at Pyongyang's arms industry. Despite this weekend's seizure of 35 tonnes of arms, North Korea still smuggles out the vast majority of its intended heavy arms exports, diplomats and analysts estimate. In doing so, the closed state and its buyers would both be contravening UN sanctions banning arms exports.
"The recent case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of all of North Korea's illegal arms' smuggling," said Jeung Young-tae, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "Still, I expect the consistent implementation of UN sanctions to deliver a strong jab to North Korea."
The world's navies have been closely monitoring North Korea's small fleet of rusty freighters for years and seizures have probably forced much contraband on to foreign aircraft and ships, analysts say. In 2002 Spanish forces found Scud missile parts hidden under bags of cement on a North Korean ship. The next year Australian forces detained a North Korean ship smuggling heroin, another source of dollars. The ship was later destroyed.
This year the United Arab Emirates seized 10 containers of North Korean arms, including rocket-propelled grenades, on board a Bahamian-flagged ship, the ANL-Australia. The manifest listed "oil-drilling equipment" destined for Iran.
Several weeks earlier the US navy shadowed a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam, suspected of carrying arms to south-east Asia, forcing it to turn back.
"Pyongyang is playing hide-and-seek with the world, both at sea and in the air," according to an editorial in the South Korean daily, Dong-a Ilbo.
The Kazakh and Belarusan crew of the aircraft detained in Bangkok have yet to explain their route. Analysts assume North Korean arms have been smuggled through Chinese airspace, as Beijing is lenient to its communist neighbour. India, by contrast, denied overflight rights last year to a North Korean aircraft bound for Iran.
Choi Choon-heum, another senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said China's stance remained vexed, but he thought Beijing was also clamping down on North Korea's missile trade in an attempt to push Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.
"The Chinese . . have their own criteria and will act on their own if North Korea does not listen to their advice on not selling missiles," he said.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
DTN News: South Korea TODAY December 16, 2009 ~ Net Closes On North Korea's Arms Exports
DTN News: South Korea TODAY December 16, 2009 ~ Net Closes On North Korea's Arms Exports
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - December 16, 2009: Kim Jong-il is feeling the noose of sanctions tighten but he will prove a hard man to restrain.
North Korea's dictator already knew the world's security services were becoming adept at intercepting his seaborne arms exports, but Thailand's seizure of an aircraft carrying weapons from Pyongyang at the weekend is a serious irritation for him. South Korean Army soldiers manoeuvre K-1 tanks during an annual river-crossing exercise on the Han river in Yeoju, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Seoul December 16, 2009. The aim of the exercise is to prepare soldiers for a possible invasion by North Korea.
Weapons probably earn hundreds of millions of dollars of vital foreign currency each year for impoverished North Korea. Mr Kim will find valuable Middle Eastern customers such as Iran wary of doing business if the US and its allies consistently pin down his country's arms' flights.
"This will affect the revenue stream," said Daniel Pinkston, at the International Crisis Group. "It is a sign of the increasing risk of doing business for the buyers, who are also violating United Nations Security Council resolution 1874."
The resolution, passed after North Korea carried out its second nuclear test in May, is aimed at Pyongyang's arms industry. Despite this weekend's seizure of 35 tonnes of arms, North Korea still smuggles out the vast majority of its intended heavy arms exports, diplomats and analysts estimate. In doing so, the closed state and its buyers would both be contravening UN sanctions banning arms exports.
"The recent case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of all of North Korea's illegal arms' smuggling," said Jeung Young-tae, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "Still, I expect the consistent implementation of UN sanctions to deliver a strong jab to North Korea."
The world's navies have been closely monitoring North Korea's small fleet of rusty freighters for years and seizures have probably forced much contraband on to foreign aircraft and ships, analysts say. In 2002 Spanish forces found Scud missile parts hidden under bags of cement on a North Korean ship. The next year Australian forces detained a North Korean ship smuggling heroin, another source of dollars. The ship was later destroyed.
This year the United Arab Emirates seized 10 containers of North Korean arms, including rocket-propelled grenades, on board a Bahamian-flagged ship, the ANL-Australia. The manifest listed "oil-drilling equipment" destined for Iran.
Several weeks earlier the US navy shadowed a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam, suspected of carrying arms to south-east Asia, forcing it to turn back.
"Pyongyang is playing hide-and-seek with the world, both at sea and in the air," according to an editorial in the South Korean daily, Dong-a Ilbo.
The Kazakh and Belarusan crew of the aircraft detained in Bangkok have yet to explain their route. Analysts assume North Korean arms have been smuggled through Chinese airspace, as Beijing is lenient to its communist neighbour. India, by contrast, denied overflight rights last year to a North Korean aircraft bound for Iran.
Choi Choon-heum, another senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said China's stance remained vexed, but he thought Beijing was also clamping down on North Korea's missile trade in an attempt to push Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.
"The Chinese . . have their own criteria and will act on their own if North Korea does not listen to their advice on not selling missiles," he said.
South Korean Army soldiers manoeuvre K-1 tanks during an annual river-crossing exercise on the Han river in Yeoju, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Seoul December 16, 2009. The aim of the exercise is to prepare soldiers for a possible invasion by North Korea.
Weapons probably earn hundreds of millions of dollars of vital foreign currency each year for impoverished North Korea. Mr Kim will find valuable Middle Eastern customers such as Iran wary of doing business if the US and its allies consistently pin down his country's arms' flights.
"This will affect the revenue stream," said Daniel Pinkston, at the International Crisis Group. "It is a sign of the increasing risk of doing business for the buyers, who are also violating United Nations Security Council resolution 1874."
The resolution, passed after North Korea carried out its second nuclear test in May, is aimed at Pyongyang's arms industry. Despite this weekend's seizure of 35 tonnes of arms, North Korea still smuggles out the vast majority of its intended heavy arms exports, diplomats and analysts estimate. In doing so, the closed state and its buyers would both be contravening UN sanctions banning arms exports.
"The recent case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of all of North Korea's illegal arms' smuggling," said Jeung Young-tae, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "Still, I expect the consistent implementation of UN sanctions to deliver a strong jab to North Korea."
The world's navies have been closely monitoring North Korea's small fleet of rusty freighters for years and seizures have probably forced much contraband on to foreign aircraft and ships, analysts say. In 2002 Spanish forces found Scud missile parts hidden under bags of cement on a North Korean ship. The next year Australian forces detained a North Korean ship smuggling heroin, another source of dollars. The ship was later destroyed.
This year the United Arab Emirates seized 10 containers of North Korean arms, including rocket-propelled grenades, on board a Bahamian-flagged ship, the ANL-Australia. The manifest listed "oil-drilling equipment" destined for Iran.
Several weeks earlier the US navy shadowed a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam, suspected of carrying arms to south-east Asia, forcing it to turn back.
"Pyongyang is playing hide-and-seek with the world, both at sea and in the air," according to an editorial in the South Korean daily, Dong-a Ilbo.
The Kazakh and Belarusan crew of the aircraft detained in Bangkok have yet to explain their route. Analysts assume North Korean arms have been smuggled through Chinese airspace, as Beijing is lenient to its communist neighbour. India, by contrast, denied overflight rights last year to a North Korean aircraft bound for Iran.
Choi Choon-heum, another senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said China's stance remained vexed, but he thought Beijing was also clamping down on North Korea's missile trade in an attempt to push Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.
"The Chinese . . have their own criteria and will act on their own if North Korea does not listen to their advice on not selling missiles," he said.
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