Danger of Iran and North Korea trading with Terrorists

Iran and North Korea's Military Relations Trading with Terrorists?
By Kevin Kane, Graduate Student of International Studies
[2007-02-05 17:50 ]
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00300&num=1638

The Iranian Connection.
If North Korea were to provide powerful weapons to terrorists, it would likely be through Iran. If North Korea supplies Iran with WMDs or equally threatening technology, Kim Jong Il is not technically supplying terrorists with weapons or is he? The http://www.cfr.org/publication/9362/

U.S. Council on Foreign Relations
official position on Iran is that it directly sponsors terrorism throughout much of the Middle East. In 1979, the Iranian Islamic Republic condoned the kidnapping of 63 American diplomats during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002582.html
Iranian government also supplied Hezbollah with high-tech weapons like the solid-fuel Zelzal-2 missiles, which were used to attack Israel in 2006 and draw Lebanon into a war it did not want. Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, the Iranian government continues to support anti-Iraqi government and terrorists groups inside Iraq. In fact, the reported that in 2005, former CIA Director Porter Goss specifically told U.S. Congress that the Iranian government is helping insurgents in Iraq. One might ask, What does this have to do with North Korea and Iran?

To understand this connection, perhaps it would help to focus on North Korea's weapons delivery systems, or more specifically, its missiles. On 30 January 2007, the Washington Times reported that Army Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly stated in a speech that "They [Iran] are working in concert with the North Koreans," and that "They have made a claim that they are working towards developing a space launch capability, which also would give them an ICBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile] capability." Not only does North Korea develop missile technology with Iran, but they export to them as well.

According to a 2004 brief for U.S. Congress,
"Weapons of Mass Destruction: Trade Between North Korea and Pakistan,"the CIA believes that North Korea attaches high priority to exporting ballistic missiles because it is a form of hard currency. According to The Korea Times,Under Secretary Robert Joseph stated that, "I think [North Korea] is the principal supplier to Iran of ballistic missile technologies.§ The Arms Control Today, a publication by the Arms Control Association, reported in a January/February 2007 reported that Major General Amos Yadlin, head of the Israeli Defense Intelligence Branch, previously informed the Israeli newspaper Ha`aretz that the Iranian government recently purchased missiles from North Korea that were possibly based off the Soviet designed SS-N-6. The general stated that some might have already arrived in Iran. Arms Control Today then went on to report that a former U.S. State Department official informed them that the reports were certainly credible.
Dangerous Exports: The SS-N-6 Missile (GobalSecurity.org) reported that North Korea began working on the SS-N-6 around
2003. The SS-N-6, initially designed for launch from a submarine, may have been modified by North Korea to be used by mobile vehicles on land. Because the missile is designed for submarine use, it is possible to fit inside an ordinary ship container ship. The

Federation of American Scientists (FAS) website states that depending on the type of SS-N-6 model, it can travel anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 kilometers. One model of the SS-N-6 delivers a 1500 lb re-entry vehicle (RV) while some of the other variants can deliver multiple re-entry vehicles (MRV) that carry either two 600-lb RVs or three 400-lb RVs. After a warhead detaches from the payload and gravity pulls it back into the atmosphere towards its target, it is then referred to as an RV. Warheads are devices that can be used to carry explosives, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Some warheads detonate upon impact while some explode at certain altitudes, depending on their purpose. Because MRVs separate and descend to their target separately, they can be used to overwhelm missile defense systems. Will Lifting Sanctions Help?

Delegates of the six countries at the six party talks Yonhap NewsThe North Korean government is already suspected of exporting the SS-N-6 to Iran, a terrorist-sponsoring state. Many South Koreans argue that North Korea will export arms to terrorists only if sanctions continue or if the U.S. provokes the situation. However, this is a miscalculation. The North Korean government previously made it clear that lifting sanctions will not prevent it from exporting dangerous weapons. According to "North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program," the North Korean government previously demanded $1 billion to be provided annually in exchange for a promise not to export missiles. Therefore, lifting sanctions alone will not deter the North Korean government from supplying dangerous weapons to terrorist-sponsoring states. North Korea and Iran have a history of trading dangerous weapons, rejecting the authority of the international community, and carrying out acts of terrorism when they were not provoked or under strict sanctions.

Therefore, lifting sanctions on North Korea and Iran may not change the likeliness of those countries to export arms to terrorists. If Iran or one of its terrorist organizations uses North Korea's concealable missiles to attack innocent populations, North Korea will have supplied the delivery system used in one the world's worst acts of terrorism. Should this occur, even the most persuasive or charismatic South Korean diplomat would be unable to save North Korea from forceful retaliation. Preventing Future Conflict or WarIf the world's worst fear is for the North Korean government to provide arms or even worse, WMDs, to terrorists or their Iranian suppliers, South Korean people should take serious action to ensure that no missiles, WMDs, or their related technologies, leave or enter North Korea. Specifically, the South Korean government should relentlessly support and enforce
U.N. Security Resolution 1695 (2006), which demands that all U.N. member states prevent the transfer of missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, as well as procurement of such items and technology from that country. In our anarchic international system, countries place the interest of their own citizens before the interest of populations living in other countries.

In other words, governments often place a finite value on life. Therefore, countries that are threatened by North Korea will place their own interests and safety before the interests of South Korean people. This means that if North Korea were to threaten the peace of the world's liberal democracies or the economic development of rising powers like China, South Korea could be drawn into a conflict or war despite the consequences for South Korean people. Even though North Korea's military would be overwhelmed swiftly, to avoid any future tragedy, South Korea should support the international effort to enforce Resolution 1695.


29 December 2005
Iran acquires ballistic missiles from DPRK
By Alon Ben-David JDW Correspondent Tel Aviv

Iran has acquired medium/ intermediate-range ballistic missiles (MRBM/IRBMs) from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea - DPRK) with a range of at least 2,500 km, regional intelligence sources have confirmed to JDW. However, analysts remain puzzled over the rationale of the Iranian acquisition. Citing a study by the German Federal Intelligence Service, the German daily newspaper Bild reported on 16 December that Iran has acquired 18 disassembled IRBMs from the DPRK. Referring to the missiles as 'BM-25' models, the newspaper said they were based on the Soviet SS-N-6 (R-27) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). According to previous JDW reports, the DPRK, with the help of Russian specialists from the VP Makeyev Design Bureau in Miass, Chelyabinsk, has utilised the R-27 technology to develop two new (land-based and naval) versions of the R-27 with extended ranges. The land-based version, sometimes referred to as 'Taepo Dong X', is believed to have a range of 2,500 to 4,000 km. Fuelled with a storable liquid propellant, the new missile has greater survivability compared with the DPRK's No Dong and Hwasong families of missiles. "Although the technology is 40 years old, the SS-N-6 SLBM is a very complicated missile, which is not easy to copy and does not align with the current Iranian efforts," Uzi Rubin, former director of Israel's Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation, told JDW.