North Korean Arms Shipment Linked to Iran and China

Did I call it or what?

Weapons seized in Thailand from an impounded plane traveling from North Korea were likely destined for Iran, a high-ranking Thai government security official was quoted by Reuters as saying regarding the findings of a team investigating the arms. “Some experts believe the weapons may be going to Iran, which has bought arms from North Korea in the past,” said the official.

The official was quoted as saying the Thai investigating team considered Iran the likely destination because of the type of weaponry, including unassembled Taepodong-2 missile parts. The North Korean missile is a product of joint efforts with Teheran, developed in conjunction with Iran’s Shehab-5 and Shehab-6 missiles. [Jerusalem Post]

We learn more about the shipment’s contents from the Wall Street Journal:

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said late Wednesday that Thai officials had finished opening the 140 or more crates from the plane’s cargo bay and would release a report within a few days on what they found. Some boxes included surface-to-air missiles and 50 or so tube launchers with computerized weapon-controls. There was no immediate evidence of weapons of mass destruction, he said. [Wall Street Journal]

I wonder if the surface-to-air missiles were the man-portable kind, such as the SA-14.

We also learn that the aircraft was leased by Auckland, New Zealand-based SP Trading Company, and that the lease agreement lists one “Lu Zhang” as its Director. The WSJ couldn’t track down anyone from SP Trading to get their side of it, and reporters couldn’t get access to the floor of the building where its New Zealand office is supposed to exist. SP Trading has one New Zealand shareholder and its company offices (or, according to this report, its parent company’s offices) are located in Vanuatu.

If the plane was indeed carrying ballistic missile parts, it would violate all three U.N. Security Council Resolutions sanctioning North Korea’s arms trade: 1695, 1718, and 1874 (see sidebar for the texts).

From the Washington Times, we also learn that the Chinese — their promises to cooperate with international sanctions notwithstanding — allowed the aircraft to pass through their airspace:

Larry A. Niksch, a specialist in Asian affairs at the Congressional Research Service who monitors North Korea’s proliferation activities, said the Bangkok seizure raises serious questions about China’s role. “Two-thirds of the flight path of that plane was over Chinese territory,” he said. “It should have raised Chinese suspicions.”

The Obama administration brought up concerns about North Korean use of Chinese airspace for arms exports this summer – shortly after the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning such transfers – but has yet to receive a meaningful response, U.S. officials said. “North Korean proliferation by air is an important matter for us, and [Philip] Goldberg brought it up during his meetings in July,” said one official, referring to an Asia trip by the State Department envoy for the implementation of Resolution 1874. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing private diplomatic communications.

The resolution, which China supported, lists detailed procedures on how to deal with suspicious vessels and illegal cargo on the high seas, but it is somewhat vague when it comes to air cargo. In most cases, regardless of the destination of a flight originating in North Korea, it would have to refuel in China or at least fly over its territory, Mr. Niksch said.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted officials in Beijing in July as saying that inspections of air cargo should be carried out only if there is specific evidence of wrongdoing. “China has been faithfully implementing relevant U.N. resolutions,” Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Wednesday. “As to whether the North Korean plane violated U.N. resolutions, it’s up to the U.N. Security Council to make a judgment.” [Washington Times, Nicholas Kralev]

A look at the great circle route between Pyongyang (ZKPY) and Tehran (THR) explains why China’s “three monkeys” approach to North Korean proliferation is so helpful to Kim Jong Il’s sanctions-busting. And that’s a generous interpretation, given the evidence that China actively helps North Korea acquire and proliferate weapons.

So what is the Obama Administration going to do about this?