NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR THREAT / DPRK aid to Syria could spark fire in Middle East
Monday, November 12th, 2007 | 
Email This Post
|
Posted by John under: Perilous Times,Syria and Damascus
More than a year has passed since North Korea’s nuclear test. Work to disable some of the country’s nuclear facilities has finally begun, but it is unclear whether North Korea will abandon all of its nuclear development programs. Starting today, part five of our “North Korea’s Nuclear Threat” series will focus on threats facing Japan and future tasks for the nation’s security policy.
Perilous Times
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,deceiving, and being deceived”
—2 Timothy 3:13″
Syria and Damascus
“The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.”
—Isaiah 17:1
Before dawn on Sept. 6, Israeli Air Force the F-15 fighters secretly flew over the Syrian desert about 145 kilometers from the border with Iraq. Following coordinates from a guidance system set up on the ground by an Israeli commando unit known as Shaldag that had infiltrated the area, missiles from F-15s locked onto and destroyed a building east of the Euphrates River.
The covert mission was reported by U.S. and British media. Though Israel has not disclosed details of the raid, the destroyed 47-meter by 47-meter building likely was a nuclear facility built with cooperation from North Korea.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a private U.S. institution, the facility possibly accommodated a 20,000-kilowatt to 25,000-kilowatt nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
During a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi Farkash, former chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence, pointed to a satellite photo of the building taken before the raid that was released by ISIS in October. The building closely resembled a nuclear facility in Yongbyong, North Korea, he said.
Although North Korea and Syria have dismissed reports they might be cooperating on a nuclear facility, suspicions that they might have some “nuclear connection” are growing.
In October, Workers’ Party of Korea Secretary Choe Thae Bok, visited Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad. The meeting, at which they discussed cooperation on nuclear programs, suggests ties between Pyongyang and Damascus have become cozy in recent times.
Israel has not officially confirmed that it possesses nuclear weapons, but the country is the sole nuclear power in the Middle East and is believed to have 100 to 200 nuclear warheads. Moves by other countries in the region to acquire nuclear programs can be a life-or-death matter for Israel.
Zeevi Farkash said North Korea sold missiles to Egypt, Libya and Syria. He quoted Israeli military intelligence reports saying some North Korean engineers sent to Syria since 2000 had engaged in nuclear-related work.
He also revealed that Israel had been keeping a watchful eye on North Korea’s transference of nuclear development technologies to the Middle East for more than 10 years.
U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration has taken a more reconciliatory approach toward North Korea in recent times.
But unease about the reclusive state’s possible nuclear aid to Syria has stirred distrust of the U.S. administration among members of the Congress and media, who previously had given scant attention to policies toward Pyongyang.
On Oct. 25, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill appeared before a joint hearing of subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to testify about the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs. But the top U.S. negotiator in the talks was bombarded with questions not just about North Korea, but about Syria’s suspected nuclear development.
One lawmaker asked whether North Korea had offered to help Syria’s nuclear ambitions. Another asked whether the U.S. government was providing massive energy aid and other help to North Korea even though Pyongyang possibly had provided nuclear technology to Damascus.
The repercussions of Syria’s moves could have a major bearing on how the United States proceeds with its efforts to promote the Middle East peace process. If North Korea assisted Syria’s nuclear development, Washington’s policy toward Pyongyang would become a key component of the war on terrorism.
Washington officials have insisted North Korea must not cross the “red line” of exporting nuclear weapons or technologies. As such, U.S. lawmakers have every right to take a keen interest in the suspicion swirling around Syria.
However, in his testimony, Hill only repeated that he was not in a position to answer questions about issues of intelligence agencies.
The U.S. government has shifted its stance to one of dialogue with North Korea.
Even if Pyongyang steps over the red line and evidence proves it provided nuclear technology to Syria, Washington will be reluctant to return to a policy that favors putting the squeeze on North Korea.