Iran and North Korea’s Military Relations

Military and political experts are currently trying to analyze whether or not Kim Jong Il or one of his corrupt government officials will supply terrorists with WMDs. The U.S. administration has long feared that the North Korean government might sell or indirectly provide WMDs to terrorist organizations. The 2003 report to Congress, North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program, stated that the U.S. administration fears that North Korea will have the ability to export atomic bombs to other states and maintain a nuclear missile capability that will threaten Japan and U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean. U.S. President Bush stated in his 2002 State of the Union Address that North Korea “pose[s] a grave and growing danger” and could provide WMDs “to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred.” These fears were exacerbated when North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon in 2006.

North Korea’s History of Terrorism

[imText1]When trying to answer the question as to whether or not North Korea’s regime would provide WMDs to terrorists, one should consider the North Korean government’s previous acts of terrorism. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, on 9 October 1983, three North Korean agents exploded a bomb operated by remote control at a tomb in Burma where South Korea’s former President, Chun Doo Hwan, and various other cabinet members were visiting. Consequently, 14 South Koreans and 32 Burmese died from the blast. In 1987, a North Korean spy planted a bomb on Korean Airlines Flight 858. It exploded in midair between Abu Dhabi and Bangkok while on its way to Seoul; almost all of the 115 people who died were South Korean. According to the U.S. Report For Congress, North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?, in 2000, former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration respected the requests of Japan to keep North Korea on the terror list until North Korea satisfied the Japanese government regarding North Korea’s terrorism acts against Japan­specifically the kidnapping of Japanese citizens. North Korea admitted to kidnapping five Japanese citizens in September 2002 and agreed to release them, but failed to account for the countless numbers of other Japanese citizens kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. While none of these incidents involve WMDs, the North Korean government’s recent history of carrying out acts of terror by kidnapping civilians makes it clear that it is perfectly comfortable with supporting terrorism as an acceptable form of foreign policy.

The Iranian Connection

If North Korea were to provide powerful weapons to terrorists, it would likely be through Iran. If North Korea supplies Iran with WMDs or equally threatening technology, Kim Jong Il is not technically supplying terrorists with weapons―or is he?

The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations’ official position on Iran is that it directly sponsors terrorism throughout much of the Middle East. In 1979, the Iranian Islamic Republic condoned the kidnapping of 63 American diplomats during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Iranian government also supplied Hezbollah with high-tech weapons like the solid-fuel Zelzal-2 missiles, which were used to attack Israel in 2006 and draw Lebanon into a war it did not want. Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, the Iranian government continues to support anti-Iraqi government and terrorists groups inside Iraq. In fact, the Washington Times reported that in 2005, former CIA Director Porter Goss specifically told U.S. Congress that the Iranian government is helping insurgents in Iraq.

One might ask, “What does this have to do with North Korea and Iran?” To understand this connection, perhaps it would help to focus on North Korea’s weapons delivery systems, or more specifically, its missiles. On 30 January 2007, the Washington Times reported that Army Brig. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly stated in a speech that “They [Iran] are working in concert with the North Koreans,” and that “They have made a claim that they are working towards developing a space launch capability, which also would give them an ICBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile] capability.” Not only does North Korea develop missile technology with Iran, but they export to them as well.

[imText2]According to a 2004 brief for U.S. Congress, “Weapons of Mass Destruction: Trade Between North Korea and Pakistan,” the CIA believes that North Korea attaches high priority to exporting ballistic missiles because it is a form of hard currency. According to The Korea Times, Under Secretary Robert Joseph stated that, “I think [North Korea] is the principal supplier to Iran of ballistic missile technologies.” The Arms Control Today, a publication by the Arms Control Association, reported in a January/February 2007 reported that Major General Amos Yadlin, head of the Israeli Defense Intelligence Branch, previously informed the Israeli newspaper Ha`aretz that the Iranian government recently purchased missiles from North Korea that were possibly based off the Soviet designed SS-N-6. The general stated that some might have already arrived in Iran. Arms Control Today then went on to report that a former U.S. State Department official informed them that the reports were “certainly credible.”

Dangerous Exports: The SS-N-6 Missile

Global Security (GlobalSecurity.org) reported that North Korea began working on the SS-N-6 around 2003. The SS-N-6, initially designed for launch from a submarine, may have been modified by North Korea to be used by mobile vehicles on land. Because the missile is designed for submarine use, it is possible to fit inside an ordinary ship container ship. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) website states that depending on the type of SS-N-6 model, it can travel anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 kilometers. One model of the SS-N-6 delivers a 1500 lb re-entry vehicle (RV) while some of the other variants can deliver multiple re-entry vehicles (MRV) that carry either two 600-lb RVs or three 400-lb RVs.

After a warhead detaches from the payload and gravity pulls it back into the atmosphere towards its target, it is then referred to as an RV. Warheads are devices that can be used to carry explosives, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Some warheads detonate upon impact while some explode at certain altitudes, depending on their purpose. Because MRVs separate and descend to their target separately, they can be used to overwhelm missile defense systems.

Will Lifting Sanctions Help?

[imText3]The North Korean government is already suspected of exporting the SS-N-6 to Iran, a terrorist-sponsoring state. Many South Koreans argue that North Korea will export arms to terrorists only if sanctions continue or if the U.S. provokes the situation. However, this is a miscalculation. The North Korean government previously made it clear that lifting sanctions will not prevent it from exporting dangerous weapons. According to “North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program,” the North Korean government previously demanded $1 billion to be provided annually in exchange for a promise not to export missiles. Therefore, lifting sanctions alone will not deter the North Korean government from supplying dangerous weapons to terrorist-sponsoring states.

North Korea and Iran have a history of trading dangerous weapons, rejecting the authority of the international community, and carrying out acts of terrorism when they were not provoked or under strict sanctions. Therefore, lifting sanctions on North Korea and Iran may not change the likeliness of those countries to export arms to terrorists. If Iran or one of its terrorist organizations uses North Korea’s concealable missiles to attack innocent populations, North Korea will have supplied the delivery system used in one the world’s worst acts of terrorism. Should this occur, even the most persuasive or charismatic South Korean diplomat would be unable to save North Korea from forceful retaliation.

Preventing Future Conflict or War

If the world’s worst fear is for the North Korean government to provide arms or even worse, WMDs, to terrorists or their Iranian suppliers, South Korean people should take serious action to ensure that no missiles, WMDs, or their related technologies, leave or enter North Korea. Specifically, the South Korean government should relentlessly support and enforce U.N. Security Resolution 1695 (2006), which demands that all U.N. member states “prevent the transfer of missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, as well as procurement of such items and technology from that country.” .

In our anarchic international system, countries place the interest of their own citizens before the interest of populations living in other countries. In other words, governments often place a finite value on life. Therefore, countries that are threatened by North Korea will place their own interests and safety before the interests of South Korean people. This means that if North Korea were to threaten the peace of the world’s liberal democracies or the economic development of rising powers like China, South Korea could be drawn into a conflict or war despite the consequences for South Korean people. Even though North Korea’s military would be overwhelmed swiftly, to avoid any future tragedy, South Korea should support the international effort to enforce Resolution 1695.