Chinese firms breaking UN embargo on North Korea

“The North Korean entities subject to UN sanctions are known to have been
deeply involved in the North Korean procurement of Chinese ICBM
transporter-erector-launcher vehicles,” says the report.

In August 2011, Changgwang Trading Corporation, a front company for KOMID,
bought four lorries in China that were then altered into ICBM launchers and
displayed in a parade in Pyongyang to celebrate the centenary of the birth
of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

In addition, the Korea Ryonbong General Corporation purchased 2 tons of
vanadium, which is used in the manufacture of missiles, from a Chinese
company in May 2011.

Much of the equipment was shipped to North Korea from the Chinese port of
Dalian.

“The UN North Korea Sanctions Committee has frequently asked China for
clarification of North Korea’s weapons transport through the port of Dalian,
but China is said to have been shifting the responsibility to shipping
companies of other nations or refusing to answer,” says the report.

Sometimes, a bribe of between £40,000 – £60,000 is paid to a customs official
to send each 40ft container filled with illegal missile components through
Dalian, according to the report. North Korea also conceals its shipments.

“To hide its trade, North Korea has been using all available means,
including falsely describing the contents of the shipments, forging the
country of origin as China and purchasing the materials in the name of
Chinese firms,” adds the report.

Personnel from North Korean banks and trading companies regularly meet at
Beijing International Airport to deliver large sums of money earned from
weapons deals. This happens with the “connivance of Chinese authorities
and the customs office,” says the report.

China is North Korea’s oldest and most committed ally, sending millions of “volunteer”
soldiers to fight for the North during the war caused by its invasion of
South Korea in 1950.

More recently, Beijing has propped up the bankrupt state with fuel and food
supplies, while providing diplomatic support in the Security Council.
China’s aim is to guarantee the presence of a friendly state on its
north-eastern border instead of a united Korean peninsula that might fall
into America’s orbit.

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