news worldnews asia northkorea 8129670 ----- # North Korea 'runs international nuclear smuggling network' ## North Korea has operated a widespread overseas smuggling network to supply banned nuclear and ballistic missile components to Burma, Syria and Iran, according to a United Nations report that recommends tightening inspections of its foreign activities. ![North Korea's nuclear chief arrested for 'passing secrets to a foreign power' ][1] Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent 5:36PM GMT 12 Nov 2010 The report from a key technical committee that examines compliance with international sanction was considered so sensitive that China had blocked its circulation for the last six months. The report provides key backing for Western intelligence reports that North Korea has supplied weapons material for countries hostile to American foreign policy. Experts responsible for the 75-page report found that [North Korea][2] provided the expertise for construction of nuclear faility in Syria that Israel bombed in 2007. It also found that a sanctioned North Korean firm had engaged in "suspicious activity" in Burma and supplied a dual use magnet through a trading firm in Tokyo. The finding that North Korea is involved with "the surreptitious transfer of nuclear-related and ballistic missile-related equipment, know-how and technology" to countries including Iran, Syria and Burma, by the experts from UN Security Council sanctions committee will enhance efforts to intercept and disrupt North Korea overseas. The experts called for "special attention" to be taken by the international community "to inhibit such activities" and for more detailed investigation into the sophisticated means used by North Korea to circumvent the sanctions. ## Related Articles * [North Korea's 'uranium enrichment'][3] 21 Nov 2010 * [North Korea's nuclear chief arrested for 'passing secrets to a foreign power'][4] 10 Nov 2010 It said the list eight companies and five individuals current subject to an asset freeze and travel ban was inadequate to the task of preventing proliferation. Other companies have replaced the listed entities. The lengths North Korea goes to as it sold banned material were also detailed including hiring private jets through off-shore companies, providing false descriptions and mislabeling of the contents of shipping containers, falsifying the manifest and information about the origin and destination of the goods. North Korea staged one nuclear test in 2006 and claims it set off another nuclear device in 2009 and the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on imports and exports and an asset freeze on a number of individuals in 2009. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea employs a broad range of techniques to mask its transactions, including the use of overseas entities, shell companies, informal transfer mechanisms, cash couriers and barter arrangements," said the report. The document was released after President Barack Obama met with China's President Hu Jintao at a G20 meeting in Seoul, though China had withdrawn its objections to the report in the run-up to the trip. [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] * Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8] [Tweet][9] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8129670/North-Korea- runs-international-nuclear-smuggling-network.html Telegraph ## [North Korea][2] * ### [News »][10] * ### [World News »][11] * ### [Asia »][12] * ### [Damien McElroy »][13] In news [![One of North Korea's Kim Jong-il's palatial mansions from Google Earth][14] ][15] ### [North Korea from above][15] [![Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Un][16] ][17] ### [Keeping it in the family][17] [![South Korea holds large live-fire drills ][18] ][19] ### [South Korea holds large live-fire drills][19] [![Soldiers from a South Korean army armoured division take part in an annual river-crossing exercise against a possible attack from North Korea on the Han river in Yeoju][20] ][21] ### [Timeline: North Korea's conflict with the South][21] [![A growing group of North Korean dissidents are risking their lives to secretly film inside the repressive regime before smuggling the tapes across the Chinese border to show the outside world what is happening to their countrymen. ][22] ][23] ### [Inside North Korea - exclusive][23] [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] Share: * [ ][5] * [ ][7] * [ ][8] * [Tweet][9] * Advertisement ![][24] Advertisement [Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][25] Like Telegraph.co.uk on Facebook Advertisement sponsored features Loading News Most Viewed * TODAY * PAST WEEK * PAST MONTH 1. [3.5 minutes of terror: Air France crash dropped at 10,000 feet a minute][26] 2. [Royal wedding: a peek into royal couple's honeymoon paradise][27] 3. [Councils spend 100m on taxpayer-funded credit cards][28] 4. [Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge wreck reveals secrets of the real Pirate of the Caribbean][29] 5. [President Obama’s top ten insults against Britain – 2011 edition][30] 1. [O'Bama? Oh puh-lease!][31] 2. [Rapture: the end was not nigh, after all][32] 3. [Cannes 2011: Peter Fonda encourages his grandchildren to take up arms against President Barack Obama][33] 4. [Apocalypse not right now: 'Rapture' end of world fails to materialise][34] 5. [Michelle Obama fights to control summer dress in windy London][35] 1. [Joe Biden opens his mouth about US Navy SEALs][36] 2. [Royal wedding live][37] 3. [Italians evacuate Rome over 'big one' fears][38] 4. [Osama bin Laden dead: Blackout during raid on bin Laden compound][39] 5. [Kate Middleton's family take action over nude pictures 'betrayal'][40] [EDITOR'S CHOICE »][41] ### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][42] [![Gil Scott-Heron][43]][42] Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary on the black American experience. ### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][44] ### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][45] ### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][46] ### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][47] Advertisement Classified Advertising * [World Travel][48] * [Property][49] * [Shopping][50] Loading var puffs_8120657 = new Array();