Defense News
04/23/2012
Despite Evidence, China Denies Selling
Launcher to N. Korea
By Wendell Minnick
TAIPEI — There is growing evidence China has violated
United Nations sanctions against selling arms to North Korea.
One week after the failed launch of a long-range
ballistic missile, North Korea unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM) seated on a new 16-wheel transporter erector launcher (TEL)
during the April 15 parade in honor of the late North Korean founder Kim Il
Sung’s 100th birthday.
The TEL vehicle appears nearly identical to the WS51200
(WS2600) manufactured by the Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Co.,
a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC), said
Richard Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy
Center.
On April 15, Fisher sent a letter outlining the
similarities between the two vehicles to U.S. Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio,
chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. Two days later,
Turner sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Director of
National Intelligence James Clapper asking for an investigation.
A new North Korean ICBM mated to a Chinese TEL vehicle
suggests “such cooperation undermines the administration’s entire policy of
investing China with the responsibility of getting tough on North Korea,”
Turner wrote.
During April 19 testimony by U.S. Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta before the House Armed Services Committee, Turner asked if China
was assisting North Korea with its missile program. “I’m sure there’s been some
help coming from China,” Panetta said.
“I think we’d have to deal with it in another context
in terms of the sensitivity of that information. But clearly there’s been
assistance along those lines,” he said.
Panetta added there was “no question” that North
Korea’s ICBM and nuclear capability “represent a threat to the United States.”
Chinese officials have previously assured the U.S.
State Department they do not violate U.N. sanctions restricting the sale of
arms to North Korea. China voted in favor of U.N. Security Council resolutions
1718 in 2006 and 1874 in 2009, which placed sanctions on North Korea and
demanded an end to its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs.
The 1874 resolution prohibits the sale of “almost all
military equipment to North Korea with the exception of small arms, and even
that required a notification process,” said Jack Pritchard, a North Korea
specialist and president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington.
Parading the new missile and TEL is an “act of defiance
for the regime against U.N. sanctions], and, of course, it is also an act of
defiance against the U.S., since its launch would clearly violate the Leap Day
agreement with the Obama administration,” said Chuck Downs, author of the book
“Over the Line: North Korea’s Negotiating Strategy.”
North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to
denuclearization and to implement a moratorium on long range missile launches,
nuclear tests and uranium enrichment production.
The announcement was made after the “Leap Day Accord”
on Feb. 29 at the conclusion of talks between the U.S. and North Korea in
China. However, it violated that accord on April 13 with the failed launch of a
Taepodong-2 ballistic missile.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told
reporters April 19 that “China has provided repeated assurances that it is
complying fully with both Resolution 1718 as well as 1874.”
However, assurances from Beijing do not square with a
press release issued by CASIC. The press release, issued Oct. 19, 2010, said
the company had secured a 30 million yuan ($4.75 million) export order for the
WS51200 to an unidentified country. The unidentified country deposited 12
million yuan for the order and it was the first export order for the WS51200
since the company began promoting export of the WS series. The contract had
been in negotiation since 2008.
Chinese media outlets reported April 17 that Pyongyang
procured eight WS51200 vehicles from CASIC, and that they were possibly
assembled in North Korea.
The North Koreans could have obtained the plans for the
design from rogue or corrupt Chinese engineers, said Bruce Bechtol, author of
the book “Defiant Failed State: The North Korean Threat to International Security.”
“This is exactly what happened with the Musudan-ri
missile,” he said. “Rogue Russian operatives smuggled a complete SSN-6 [R-27]
missile into North Korea in 1992 — and the Russian government had nothing to do
with it.”
The Musudan-ri intermediate-range ballistic missile is
seated in a North Korean six-wheeled MAZ-547A/MAZ-7916 TEL and was unveiled
during the October 2010 parade celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Korean
Workers’ Party.
