This has the potential to get interesting: “Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria. ‘The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left’ . . . it was unclear whether the Israeli strike had produced any evidence that might validate that belief.”
After missile and nuclear tests and uranium enrichment, the U.S. sanctions North Korean firms while Pyongyang reverses, making overtures. It’s not an accident, it’s a pattern of strategic disengagement.
- #Vanity Fair, of all publications, has a lengthy article on North Korea’s counterfeiting operations, including Office 39. Well worth a read. (h/t NE Asia Matters)
- #The Chosun Ilbo has an article about a new book by Chang Jin-song (formerly affiliated with the North Korean Workers' Party) that details Kim Jong-il private life, including the inside scoop on all his lady friends. According to Chang, one unfortunate young lady to get Kim's attention was, "brutally executed after she spurned Kim's persistent advances and fell in love with another man."
- #Gizmodo has an excellent array of Kim Jong-il photos; In Which We Provoke Kim Jong Il in 77 Offensive and Hilarious Ways. Some are sure to become often used classics.
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September 12th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
[...] at DPRK Studies… Share This Sphere: Related [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 3:31 am
The Syrians would have to be absolute idiots to think that the Israelis would allow them to acquire nuclear materials. Either the report is false or the Syrians have been really emboldened by the Hezbollah success from last year’s war.
September 13th, 2007 at 7:29 am
I think that’s right. If they are purchasing nuclear material from North Korea, there are big changes in store for U.S. policy. DPRK selling plutonium? Luckily for North Korea we’re stretched a bit thin right now.
September 13th, 2007 at 8:04 am
[...] so, this is the biggest North Korea story of the decade (ht to Richardson). The story is hidden in the middle of a New York Times story covering last week’s fracas [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 9:36 am
[...] can read more over at DPRK Studies and K.U. Studies as [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 10:45 am
It could mean a lot of headaches indeed. As for being spread too thin, a nuclear Syria with the help of North Korea would mean the US may have no choice but to step in somehow which would mean huge problems politically. How is another thing altogether, but for North Korea to do this stunt would not be a very wise idea…
September 13th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
[...] Comments • Israeli Intelligence: North Korea Selling Nuclear Material 3 Jack, Richardson, GI Korea • Where Were You on 11 September 2001? 18 [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Clearly the U.S. would have to respond if proof of nuclear transfers emerge. With troops already spread thin, it likely would mean an aggressive bombing campaign. Or, at the other end of possibilities, the rumors could be a smokescreen by Mossad to help justify their bombing of Syria.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I am not too keen to the Mossad, and it means time will tell when the truth should emerge. In the meantime, if North Korea is helping Syria in whatever form, it could mean the six party talks could fall apart, which is something that Roh does not want. On the flipside, it should wake im up on how North Korea operates, and it is not in the interests of anybody but Kim Jong il.