Report: N. Korea helped Syria build better missiles
Stalinist state provided Damascus with technology used in uranium enrichment – critical step in nuke development, German paper reports
North Korea has secretly supplied Syria with the technology needed to produce better missiles, the German newspaper Die Welt reported.
According to the report, the Stalinist state helped Syria to produce a metal that could help upgrade its missiles and build uranium enrichment centrifuges – a critical step towards nuclear power. The metal – maraging steel – is restricted by international treaties and organizations due to its use in atom weapons.
This would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, which prohibit North Korea from exporting weapons.
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Unidentified "Western security sources" told the newspaper that Syria is making efforts to arm Hezbollah with upgraded M-600 missiles, which have a range of 250-300 km (155-185 miles).
Past reports have stated that Pyongyang has helped Damascus build a nuclear reactor in Dir A-Zur. According to foreign media outlets, Israel bombed the facility in 2007, destroying it.
Like Iran, North Korea has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council for developing its nuclear program. However, Pyongyang has not once been caught violating these restrictions, including the clandestine export of arms and related materials to countries that include the Islamic Republic.
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