UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an unknown location in North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” according to the report.

KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation. It was blacklisted by the Security Council in 2009 and described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria.

“The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers,” the U.N. experts wrote.

SSRC has overseen the country’s chemical weapons program since the 1970s.

The U.N. experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defense systems.

The North Korean and Syrian missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The experts said they were also investigating the use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in February.

North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. However, diplomats and weapons inspectors suspect Syria may have secretly maintained or developed a new chemical weapons capability.

During the country’s more than six-year long civil war the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said the banned nerve agent sarin has been used at least twice, while the use of chlorine as a weapon has been widespread. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.</s>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile, and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” according to the report.</s>Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.</s>Has North Korea been sending chemical agents or other arms to Syria, despite sanctions against both countries? New evidence collected by the United Nations says yes — after two shipments were intercepted between North Korea’s primary arms dealer and a Syrian government agency that has long overseen the country’s chemical weapons programs. Although sanctions prohibit Syria from having chemical weapons after numerous instances of chlorine and sarin attacks, this doesn’t mean that the Syrian government isn’t still interested in accessing those types of arms. Now the UN is investigating what exactly it is that North Korea has been sending to Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre.

The UN report says two member countries intercepted shipments from the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) to Syria’s SSRC in the past six months. KOMID is a corporation blacklisted by the UN Security Council and, contrary to its name, has as much to do with arms deals and ballistics as mining equipment. Syria was using front companies to receive the shipments, which the UN picked up on because those same companies were on the receipts of past “prohibited item transfers” from KOMID.

From the initial report, it looks like North Korea and Syria might be helping one another navigate their unique sanctions. North Korea is banned from pursuing ballistics as it tries to ramp up its nuclear and missile programs. The Syrian government is cut off from chemical weapons after deadly attacks against civilians. This wouldn’t be the first time North Korea and Syria partnered up. In the 1980s, Syria and Egypt gave North Korea a boost by selling off old Soviet missiles. Nor is this the first time North Korea has been involved in moving contraband — the Ukraine has been implicated as a possible source for North Korea’s sudden nuclear missile advancements.

Now it’s up to the United Nations to look into whether Syria is getting help from North Korea on its Scud and missile defense projects, what North Korea might be getting in return, and what, if anything, this might have to do with that February nerve agent attack against Kim Jong Un’s brother in Malaysia.</s>Two shipments from North Korea destined for the Syrian government agency responsible for chemical weapons have been intercepted in the past six months, according to a report provided to the United Nations security council in early August.



The report, which was revealed by Reuters on Tuesday, said both shipments were interdicted in the past six months. Syria’s chemical weapons programme is one of the most sensitive sectors of the Assad regime.

International observers said the shipments represented attempts to bolster outlawed weapons programmes in both countries and deepen a decades-long alliance in defiance of rigid international sanctions.

The report did not specify what the shipments contained. However, the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre has long been custodian of the state’s most sensitive secrets, including nuclear research, as well as ballistic missiles and and an air defence programme. It has maintained close ties to the Korea Mining Development Trading Company (KOMID), which was blacklisted by the UN security council eight years ago.

According to Reuters, the report said: “The [security council] panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK [North Korea].

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.”



North Korea and the Trump administration have been embroiled in a tense war of words over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, with both sides accusing each other of making military threats against each other. On Tuesday, Pyongyang’s UN envoy, Ju Yong Chol, said the country’s nuclear arsenal would never be up for negotiation.

“The measures taken by the DPRK to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and develop intercontinental rockets is justifiable and a legitimate option for self-defence in the face of such apparent and real threats,” Ju said in Geneva.

Fears have intensified that North Korea has maintained an extensive nuclear weapons programme despite sanctions that have aimed to curb it for the past 11 years. The UN has previously said attempts to bypass sanctions had been stymied

Jerry Smith, a former chemical weapons inspector for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said: “In 2013 a North Korean ship was intercepted in the Panama canal. It had false manifests and hidden under a legitimate cargo was parts for fighter jets and rockets. It transpired that they were being refurbished in Cuba. That was an open example of how sanction-busting measures were taking place.

“In the past, the Australia Group [which attempts to stop the spread of components for chemical weapons] has taken a lead on combating the spread of biological and chemical weapons. The AG tends to be western-leaning and more or less represents the views of most OECD countries towards chemical and biological arms control. They share information on the trade in materials that could be used for WMD purposes. It may well have been that a tip-off from one AG member, perhaps from intelligence information from a satellite, would have let to these intercepts.”

Syria’s sarin stockpiles were largely withdrawn from the country in late 2013 after an attack using the banned chemical in the outer suburbs of Damascus that killed an estimated 1,300 people. That attack was widely blamed on the Syrian regime, as was another attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhun in northern Syria in April this year.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former head of the British military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons programme, said North Korea had stepped up efforts in recent years to take its skills to global black markets.

“Syria’s chemical weapons programme was basically built up by Iran and Russia,” he said. “But the North Koreans have been desperate for currency and have been happy to sell technology to anyone. It has always been a real concern that they would sell their chemical and nuclear expertise.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t speak to a wider involvement in the CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence] sphere, especially by the jihadis.”</s>Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons programme were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential UN report.

The report by a panel of independent UN experts, which was submitted to the Security Council earlier in August and seen by Reuters, gave no details on when or where the interception occurred or what the shipments contained.

“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” according to the report.

It was blacklisted by the Security Council in 2009 and described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.

In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria.

“The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers,” the UN experts wrote.

SSRC has overseen the country’s chemical weapons program since the 1970s.

The UN experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defence systems.

The North Korean and Syrian missions to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The experts said they were also investigating the use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in February.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapon tests and four long-range missile launches.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.

However, diplomats and weapons inspectors suspect Syria may have secretly maintained or developed a new chemical weapons capability.

During the country’s more than six-year long civil war, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said the banned nerve agent sarin has been used at least twice, while the use of chlorine as a weapon has been widespread.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>A confidential United Nations report on North Korea’s violations of sanctions reveals Pyongyang sent shipments to a Syrian government agency that deals with chemical weapons.

The 37-page report, written by an independent panel of experts and submitted to the UN Security Council earlier this month, was seen by the Reuters news agency on Monday (August 21).

No details were provided on what the shipments contained, or when and/or where the interceptions took place.

The panel investigated reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and North Korea, according to the report.

“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria,” the report stated. “Another member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.”

KOMID, the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, was sanctioned by the UNSC in 2009. It was described as North Korea’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. Two KOMID representatives in Syria were blacklisted by the Council in March 2016.

“The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers,” according to the report. Syria’s chemical weapons program has been operating under the auspices of the SSRC since the 1970s, according to Reuters.

The panel is also investigating cooperation between Syria and North Korea on Syrian Scud missile programs, and maintenance and repair of Syria’s surface-to-air missile defense systems.

Although Syria promised to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 in a deal brokered by the United States and Russia, it subsequently became clear that either some of its supplies were held back, or Damascus created a fresh supply. There is proof that regime forces fighting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad have used the banned sarin nerve gas at least twice against his own citizens, and chlorine has also been used as a weapon as well.

Israel is closely watching the military activity across its northern border as the Syrian civil war that completely fractured the country moves into its seventh year of conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the Black Sea resort of Sochi this week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss “events in the region” and specifically events taking place in Syria.

Israel has repeatedly underlined its unwillingness to accept a permanent role for Iran or its proxy, the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, along its northern border with Syria. Along with Russia, Syria has relied upon its allies, Iranian military officials, the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla fighters, to supports its forces.</s>A North Korean mining firm, reputed to be a front for Pyongyang’s weapons development programs, attempted to ship materiel to Syrian officials tied to the country’s chemical weapons program, according to a confidential United Nations assessment of international sanctions against the North.

Details of the U.N. findings, first reported by Reuters, found officials from Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation {KOMID) had sent a pair of shipments of unknown contents to members of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre or SSRC. The Syrian government organization has been responsible for developing chemical and biological weapons for regime in Damascus since the 1970’s.

The shipments never arrived in Syria after being intercepted by international authorities from U.N. partner nations, Reuters reports. “Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria,” the U.N. review states.

KOMID has repeatedly trafficked in materials associated with ballistic missile development and other conventional arms programs, and was blacklisted by the U.N. security council as a result of those activities, Reuters reports.

As a result, the U.N. “is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and [North Korea],” the report states.

North Korea and Syria had reportedly been cooperating on efforts to repair and maintain Syria’s arsenal of short-range Scud missiles and the country’s air defense systems.

Two American destroyers fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles attacked the al Shayrat airbase in western Syria in April. The strike was in retaliation for a Syrian chemical attack against anti-government fighters in Idlib province that left over 70 dead, including 11 children. Damascus had been ordered to dismantle its chemical stockpiles as part of Russian-brokered 2013 peace pact between Syria and the U.S.</s>North Korean shipments of chemical weapons bound for Syria were intercepted just months after the regime of Bashar Al-Assad killed at least 90 people in a sarin gas attack, a confidential U.N. report has outlined.

The report, by a panel of U.N. experts into sanctions violations by North Korea and intended only to be seen by the Security Council, details how a dummy corporation, a front for North Korea’s arms dealing ventures, attempted to send two shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country's chemical weapons program.

Read more: Assad regime still making chemical weapons in Syria

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It gives no details into where the vessels were stopped or what they contained. However the activities under investigation between the two pariah nations have included Scud missile programs which can be armed with chemical payloads, as well as surface to air missile defence systems, Reuters reported.

The two shipments were intercepted in the last six months, a period which overlaps with an April 4 chemical weapons attack in Syria in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. The nerve agent sarin gas was found by independent investigators to have been used in the northwestern Syrian town.

The U.S. and its allies have said they have no doubt the Assad regime was responsible for the attack, which precipitated retaliatory cruise missile strikes by the United States against Syrian military targets.

The shipments were exported by Pyongyang's Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KMOID), which was blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council in 2009. It has been described as Pyongyang's key arms dealer, exporting both ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria.

The consignments were destined for Syrian shell companies designated by the U.S. as fronts for Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), which has overseen Syria’s expansive chemical weapons program since the 1970s.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Sanctions have been increased following five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches.

Syria had agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States but reports have claimed that the Assad regime is in violation of the U.N. backed deal, continuing to manufacture chemical weapons at a site near the Syrian capital Damascus and in regime-held Hama province.</s>The hermit kingdom has had two shipments to the agency intercepted in the past six months, the report claims. The report was done by a panel of independent UN experts and was submitted to the UN Security Council earlier this month. It did not, however, mention where the interceptions happened or what the shipments contained. The revelations come amid diplomats and officials suspecting that Syria may have secretly maintained or developed chemical weapons capability despite promising not to.

The Syrian government agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by the US and Russia. Yet during the country’s civil war, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has claimed the banned nerve agent sarin has been used at least twice. It has also said that the use of chlorine as a weapon during the more than six-year long conflict has been widespread. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.

In their 37-page report, the experts wrote: "The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea). "Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.” KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, which was blacklisted by the UN Security Council in 2009.

The KOMID has been described as Pyongyang's key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the UN Security Council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria. UN experts also said they were investigating the use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in February.
Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency of its chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past 6 months, according to a confidential United Nations report on violations of North Korea's sactions.