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Seoul’s Munhwa Ilbo newspaper has reported, quoting
unnamed government officials, that South Korea has secured evidence that North
Korea has been smuggling banned materials which could be used for rocket and
missile launches, often using forged documents to disguise their destination,
through China and other countries. “North Korea has smuggled commodities
related to weapons of mass destruction banned by the international community
and luxury goods through detour routes such as China, Japan, Mongolia and
Russia,” it said, according to an AFP report.
Illegal methods used by the cash-strapped communist
country to evade sanctions have become more creative than before, the newspaper
said. Pyongyang now favors Mongolia and Russia to smuggle banned goods because
of tightened regulations in China, it said.
This follows the detection in April of a Chinese
company fabricating documents to export measuring equipment to the North that
could be used for long-range rocket or missile launches. Two Japanese traders
were caught by police in June for attempting to export second-hand digging
equipment, which could be used as a missile launch pad, to North Korea. South
Korea has also collected information about North Korean officials using
diplomatic pouches to smuggle whisky, cigars and drugs, the newspaper said.
