New analysis has been released to support claims that the Transporter-Erector-Launchers (TEL) which carried mock-ups of North Korean ICBMs at a military parade in Pyongyang on the 15th were imported from China in violation of UN sanctions.

Kyodo News, citing ‘Kanwa Information Center (KIC)’ (a private defense analyst and news agency headquartered in Toronto), asserted yesterday that a Chinese company exported the eight TELs to North Korea in May of last year.

Having closely examined footage of the TELs, KIC apparently concluded that they were indeed Chinese, and are models which contain diesel engines from the U.S. and German transmission systems.

According to KIC, the vehicles were manufactured by Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Co., LTD, a wholly-state owned producer of military and other heavy-duty industrial vehicles based in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province.

Hubei Sanjiang has been in contact with North Korea since 2008, and designed the TELs to Pyongyang’s specifications, according to the report.

However, it also pointed out that the North does not have the technical skill to actually use the launchers.

In the meantime, the Chinese government continues to reject assertions that it has done anything wrong or that it has violated UN Security Council resolutions. However, both South Korea and the U.S. have noted that if the launchers are indeed Chinese then it represents a violation of UN resolutions, and have called on Beijing to explain the situation.

However, warning that it is possible for the TELs to have arrived in Pyongyang as part of a re-exportation deal, some defense analysts have cautioned against assuming the Chinese government knew that North Korea would be the end user.