State-owned Company Helped North Korea Develop Its Nuclear Weapons Program

As secretive as the Manhattan Project was, it was later learned that it had been penetrated by agents of the Soviet Union. After all, if the U.S. were to acquire such a weapon, the Soviets realized they would be at a huge disadvantage unless they did likewise. So they stole technology from the U.S. to help jump-start their own nuclear weapons program.

Recent news only confirms what one might suspect, that North Korea has been getting foreign help with its nuclear weapons program. Only in this case, it was not by theft, but by business dealings.

While China claims that it fully implements U.N. sanctions against North Korea, one Chinese state-owned company maintained a joint venture with a sanctioned North Korean company for nearly a decade, reports the Wall Street Journal.

China’s Limac Corp. and North Korea’s Ryonbong General Corp. established a joint venture in 2008 to mine tantalum, niobium, and zirconium—materials that can be used in nuclear reactors and missile technology. The U.S. sanctioned Ryonbong for its involvement in the production of weapons of mass destruction in 2005, and the U.N. followed suit in 2009.

Limac told the WSJ that it has been trying to dissolve the partnership since 2009, yet the joint venture maintained a registered corporate office in China until February. Limac’s website reportedly showed that Ryonbong and Limac representatives discussed advancing the relationship in 2011, and 14 Limac employees visited North Korea as part of a company-sponsored vacation in 2014. This information has since been deleted from the website.

As mentioned, coming up with a delivery system for any nuclear bomb is yet another problem. This is also an area where North Korea has gotten some help.

The Washington Post revealed in April that North Korean missiles were built with components brought into the country via China, a primary source of trade for the reclusive regime. For instance, an Institute for Science and International Security report revealed that Shenyang Machine Tools Company in Northeastern China sent banned products to North Korea, a country with which the Chinese company maintained close ties as recently as late 2015.

Experts told the Washington Post that the parts that have entered North Korea via China have allowed the impoverished and isolated regime to develop weapons that it might not have otherwise been able to do organically.

So is this something Chinese leadership knows about and is just choosing to ignore, or have they been caught unaware?

It is unclear whether the Chinese government is complicit, apathetic, or unaware. In some instances, China has taken steps to crack down on companies violating international sanctions. China arrested 11 corporate executives of Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. in September, including founder Ma Xiaohong, for exporting dual-use products that can be used in the production of nuclear weapons. Beijing pushed back when the U.S. sanctioned the company and several Chinese nationals unilaterally. Other companies, such as Limpac, have apparently been flying under the radar.

This does demonstrate the magnitude of North Korea’s desire to be a nation with effective nuclear weapons. While its people starve, it pays businesses in other countries for parts and technology to advance that program. Given these priorities, none of this comes as any surprise.

Source: National Interest