More than 100 tonnes of a toxic chemical that can be used to make weapons of mass destruction were exported to North Korea by a South Korean businessman via China, the government said yesterday.
South Korea's Ministry of Commerce said the businessman exported 107 tonnes of sodium cyanide between June and September last year to an importer in Dandong, China, on the border with North Korea, without government approval.
The unidentified Chinese company re-exported the shipment to a North Korean trading firm, the ministry said in a statement.
Sodium cyanide is known as a dual-use chemical, one with important applications in various industries that include mining, where it is used as an agent to extract gold and silver and other precious metals from their ore.
But the chemical has a secondary and more sinister application as a precursor to lethal chemical weapons. Used against humans, nerve gas and blood agents produced by the chemical are known to cause agonizing death within minutes.
Because of the dual use, sodium cyanide is subject to multilateral export control regimes to which South Korea is a signatory. Following the admission, officials said oversight would be tightened to prevent further illegal exports.
"We are working on comprehensive measures to stop the loopholes in regulations aimed at preventing illegal exports of strategic materials," commerce ministry director Seo Young-Joo said.
The ministry said it first learned about the illegal shipments in October last year, the same month it reported the South Korean businessman to prosecutors.
The unidentified businessman received a jail sentence of 18 months suspended for two years in January.
The ministry said authorities were also checking a report that a Malaysian company exported 40 tonnes of the same chemical, 15 tonnes of which originated in South Korea, to North Korea last month.
Experts caution that little is known in detail about North Korea's chemical weapons capabilities because the Stalinist state shrouds them in secrecy.
However, North Korean chemical and biological weapons programs date back several decades, when they were seen as a cheap and easy route to acquiring weapons of mass destruction, according to South Korea's defense ministry.
The communist state has developed bulk quantities of nerve, blister, choking and blood agents, creating one of the world's biggest stockpiles of chemical weapons, according to US and South Korean intelligence sources.
Pyongyang embarked on biological weapons development in the early 1980s. The country has also boasted of a nuclear deterrent force, and Washington believes it has developed a small number of nuclear devices.
South Korea has exported a total of 146,000 tonnes of sodium cyanide to 10 countries, including China, Thailand, Russia and Indonesia, since 2002. China was the largest importer, buying 42,300 tonnes. The ministry said it was now working on a new online system through which traders can easily identify strategic items subject to export controls and receive government permission for shipment of sensitive materials.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS