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North Korea: Firms in China Aiding Pyongyang’s Missile Effort, CIA Says Pyongyang is using North Korean businesses based in China to acquire ballistic missile technologies and components, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 13). “North Korea also has continued procurement of raw materials and components for its ballistic missile programs from various foreign sources, especially through North Korean firms based in China,” the CIA said in a recent report presented to Congress (see GSN, Jan. 8) The CIA report did not identify the North Korean companies operating in China. U.S officials, however, have said several of them are official North Korean trading firms. North Korea has established such firms in Shanghai and Hong Kong, according to the Times. In addition, a North Korean trading company in Macau is operated by the North Korean military and is used for covert weapons purchases, the Times reported. Pyongyang has extensive knowledge of the activities of North Korean firms based in China, said Chuck Downs, a former U.S. government specialist on North Korea. “On the Chinese side, that may not be the case,” he said (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Jan. 22).
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