From Yonhap:
North Korea continues to buy raw materials and components from various foreign sources for ballistic missiles despite announcing in 1998 that it would suspend missile tests, according to a recent U.S. intelligence document.
“North Korea is nearly self-sufficient in developing and producing ballistic missiles, yet continues to procure the required raw materials and components from various foreign sources,” the report said.
The “Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Convention Munitions” was submitted by the office of the director of national intelligence to Congress earlier this month.
The report said that in 2004, North Korea continued to abide by its voluntary moratorium on flight tests adopted in 1998 and reaffirmed in May a pledge made in September 2002 to extend the moratorium beyond 2003.
The 15 intelligence services, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also expressed caution about the kind of sensitive material North Korea could potentially sell.
“We remain concerned about North Korea’s potential for exporting nuclear materials or technology. At the April 2003 trilateral talks in Beijing, North Korea privately threatened to export nuclear weapons. During the third round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in June 2004, Pyongyang included a ban on nuclear transfers in its nuclear freeze proposal,” the report said.
It added that inspectors from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) recovered two tons of uranium hexaflouride from Libya in May 2004 that was linked to the North.
