China:  U.S.-Chinese Talks Scheduled This Week

The United States and China will meet this week to work out an ongoing dispute over missile technology proliferation, the India Statesman reported yesterday. 

The United States and China worked out an agreement last year in which China agreed not to provide ballistic missile technology to other nations, while the United States agreed to resume processing space cooperation licenses, according  to the Statesman.  The United States has accused China of breaking the deal and in September imposed sanctions on a Chinese firm accused of providing prohibited technology to Pakistan.  China has denied the charge and wants the sanctions lifted, the Statesman reported

U.S. officials said they hope that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will push China to abide by the deal.  A U.S. official said China should resume full implementation of the arrangement to help build a new kind of relationship with the United States (India Statesman, Nov. 25).  

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North Korea-Egypt: Missile Deal Concluded

North Korea has concluded a secret agreement with Egypt to provide ballistic missiles and related technology, the South Korean newspaper JoonAng Ilbo reported today.  

The accord, signed earlier this year, caused concern among Egypt’s neighbors, especially Israel, according to South Korean diplomatic sources quoted by JoonAng Ilbo.  North Korea sold Rodong missiles and manufacturing technology to Egypt in July, according to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz.  The Rodong missiles, with a range of 1,000 kilometers, eclipse Egypt’s 300- kilometer-range Scud missiles, according to JoonAng Ilbo.

JoonAng Ilbo quoted a military analyst as saying: “We believe the North Koreans agreed to sell as many as 24 Rodong missiles to the Egyptian military" (South African Press Association/News24.com, Nov. 26). 

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South Korea:  Missile Test Conducted

South Korea said Thursday it test-fired a missile believed by experts to be able to hit a target virtually anywhere within North Korea.

The missile, launched from a site about 125 miles south of Seoul, landed in the Yellow Sea off South Korea’s west coast after traveling only 62 miles. 

U.S. officials have long thought that South Korean missiles are capable of distances longer than those traveled during tests, the Times reported.  South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the United States had been informed of the recent test and that it was conducted in accordance with “military regulations between the United States and Korea” (Don Kirk, New York Times, Nov. 22).

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