The United States yesterday penalized another North Korean bank believed to have supported the nation's WMD proliferation activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 11).
(Aug. 12) -
An emptied machine room at North Korea's plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear complex. North Korea might turn to a uranium-based method of generating nuclear-weapon material rather than attempting to revive the Yongbyon site, experts said (Sigfried Hecker/Stanford University).
The Treasury Department issued an executive order freezing the U.S. assets of the Korea Kwangson Banking Corp. and prohibiting U.S. citizens from doing business with the firm.
The department charged that the bank was providing financial services for Tanchon Commercial Bank and the Korea Hyoskin Trading Corp., which it characterized as "weapons of mass destruction proliferators." The United Nations has already targeted the two organizations -- as well as Hyoskin's parent company, Korea Ryonbong General Corp. -- for their support of the North's WMD and missile programs.
U.S. officials believe Tanchon helped to finance North Korean ballistic missile deals, while Hyoskin sought to acquire equipment that could be used to build weapons of mass destruction.
"North Korea's use of a little-known bank, [Kwangson], to mask the international financial business of sanctioned proliferators demonstrates the lengths to which the regime will go to continue its proliferation activities and the high risk that any business with North Korea may well be illicit," said Stuart Levey, the treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a press release (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Aug. 11).
Meanwhile, North Korea does not appear to be trying to produce more weapon-grade plutonium, but that does not rule out continuing efforts to build up its nuclear arsenal, according to Reuters.
The North might be shifting to the more easily concealable method of enriching uranium for nuclear weapons -- a theory made stronger by Pyongyang's recent boast that it has been operating an enrichment program.
The Yongbyon nuclear complex, where the regime has reprocessed spent plutonium fuel to make bomb material in the past, was shut down under a 2007 denuclearization deal with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The regime moved toward disabling the site, including demolishing the cooling tower for its sole working nuclear reactor, before seemingly abandoning the process earlier this year after being criticized for an April rocket launch.
Uranium enrichment, on the other hand, can be done on a smaller scale and away from prying satellites. Rather than a large, expensive reactor, it primarily requires centrifuges and time.
"It makes little sense to restore an obsolete (plutonium-based) nuclear complex," said a South Korean government official. "What makes much more sense is for them to work on the highly enriched uranium program."
The downside for the North is that uranium is less easily employed than plutonium on a nuclear warhead that could be placed on a missile. However, uranium is the better material for a normal nuclear bomb, according to experts.
Washington and Seoul have tracked shipments of centrifuges and other enrichment paraphernalia into North Korea, but analysts have said there is no evidence the Stalinist state has advanced very far in its enrichment activities.
"Whether it is restoring Yongbyon or launching a full-scale uranium enrichment program, North Korea is quite a way off from doing either of these," said Daniel Pinkston, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
North Korea might look to accelerate the development of a uranium-enrichment program with support from Iran, which is also suspected in certain quarters of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran has advanced enrichment capabilities and friendly ties with North Korea, from which it buys ballistic missiles.
"There is a terrifying way that North Korea could overcome its limitation while simultaneously helping another nuclear aspirant: it could work with Iran," wrote U.S. nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker in an article published earlier this year.
"Pyongyang lacks uranium centrifuge materials, technology, and know-how," Hecker stated. "Tehran has mastered them. Pyongyang has practiced uranium metallurgy capabilities; Tehran has little."
Still, Hecker told Reuters this week, it would take some time for Pyongyang to build an enrichment program, even with Iran's help.
"It would make much more sense to restart the ... [Yongbyon] reactor," he said. "The fact that they are not may indicate that they believe their small nuclear stockpile serves as a sufficient deterrent" (Jon Herskovitz, Reuters, Aug. 12).
In India, authorities are still investigating a North Korean ship detained last week on suspicion it might be carrying nuclear materials, Asian News International reported yesterday.
Members of the ship's crew are still being questioned, said Adm. Sureesh Mehta, chief of staff for the Indian navy.
"'Till now, nothing significant has come out," Mehta said. "The investigation is still on and only after further interrogation of the crew members can we come to a conclusion."
The interrogation process has taken an unusually long time due to the language barrier, according to some reports.
The Indian coast guard chased down the freighter last week after it failed to obtain requisite permissions before entering India's territorial waters. India is investigating the ship, which is carrying sugar, for radioactive materials in accordance with a June U.N. Security Council resolution instructing member nations to interdict North Korean vessels that might be violating sanctions by carrying weapons shipments (Asian News International/Yahoo!News, Aug. 11).
The United Nations' top official today said he was willing to personally press North Korea back toward the six-party denuclearization talks, AFP reported.
"I will try to find a breakthrough by any means necessary, and I have plans to make direct contact with North Korea if necessary," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who previously served as South Korea's foreign minister, told the Yonhap News Agency.
Still, "nothing has been decided" as of yet, Ban said (Agence France-Presse II/ChannelNewsAsia.com, Aug. 12).
North Korea today said the idea that its nuclear ambitions could spark an arms race in East Asia was "outrageous" and "far from reality," Kyodo News reported.
Ro Jong Su, a high-level official with the North Korean Foreign Ministry, brushed aside suggestions that its refusal to dismantle its nuclear program could prompt South Korea and Japan to pursue their own strategic arms as a deterrent against aggression from the North.
He also reiterated Pyongyang's refusal to return to the six-party denuclearization talks and its desire to negotiate on its nuclear program directly with the United States (Kyodo News, Aug. 12).