How China Helps North Korea Proliferate
Who still thinks the Chinese want to help us make North Korea play nicely?
But tighter controls by the international community of weapons of mass destruction and restraints on the North’s arms industry meant Pyongyang had to look for more devious ways.
For instance, the North took a roundabout land route via China and Russia, which is harder to trace, or used transport planes at night. It also exported weapons by building assembly factories in importing countries. To circumvent an entry ban on its ships in ports, North Korean chartered ships under the names of foreigners, falsified the country of origin, or did business through a third country. That is mostly how it was able to export to Iran, Syria, Burma and Laos. [Chosun Ilbo]
Still more North Korean sneakiness: smuggling across the China border, according to this recent article from Daily NK:
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=5105
According to the source in Yangkang province, there are three or four NSA smuggling rings in the border regions of the Yalu River between Hwajeon-ri in Hyesan and Bocheon, Yangkang Province. Recently they have been bringing in special steel to make rock drills for mines, lubricant oil for the maintenance of several kinds of batteries and the latest models of computers.
The source said, “The smuggling rings are dealing with things which might fall foul of regulations; things which are presumably tough to get through the Chinese customs houses legally. If normal trade becomes more difficult due to Chinese action in the customs houses, the NSA rings will be expanded.â€