Japanese Firms Suspected of Selling North Korea Possible Missile Parts

According to Kyodo (via Breitbart):

Police are set to arrest two company presidents Tuesday on suspicion of illegally exporting to North Korea machines which can be used in the development of weapons of mass destruction, investigative sources said.

Fukuoka and Kumamoto police have decided to arrest the two in the Kyushu region, southwestern Japan, for the alleged violation of the foreign trade control law as the machines in question include a power shovel, which falls under Japan’s “catch-all control” regulation requiring export license, the sources said.

The Japanese government decided in May to strengthen coordination between its ministries to rein in surreptitious exports to North Korea in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul has blamed on Pyongyang.

A power shovel is designated among items subject to the export control regulation as it could be converted into delivery means and launch pads for ballistic missiles such as Rodong and Taepodong missiles.

Earlier this month, a trader and his wife in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, were arrested on suspicion of violating the foreign trade control law by illegally exporting cosmetics to North Korea despite a ban on the export of “luxury” items to the country.

Read the full article here:
2 firm heads to be arrested for alleged illegal exporting to N. Korea
Kyodo (via Breitbart)
6/22/2010

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