North Korea:  Pyongyang Test-Launches Another Cruise Missile

North Korea tested a short-range cruise missile today — the second such test in less than a month, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Feb. 26).

The missile is believed to be similar to the anti-ship missile North Korea tested late last month, said South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Kim Ki-beom (see GSN, Feb. 25).  The missile was fired from Sinsang-ri and flew for 68 miles before falling into Sea of Japan, South Korean officials said.

There had been prior signs that North Korea was planning to conduct the test, AP reported.  For example, the U.S. Defense Department earlier cited a North Korean warning for naval vessels to say out of an area off its eastern coast from Saturday to Tuesday (Christopher Torchia, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, March 10).  Prior to the test, U.S. officials said they anticipated a North Korean test of its KN-01 short-range anti-ship missile, currently under development (CNN.com, March 10).

Today’s missile test could be an attempt by North Korea to further escalate tensions with the United States in the conflict over Pyongyang’s relaunched nuclear program, according to experts (see GSN, March 7).

“This is another show of North Korean brinkmanship,” said Yoon Dong-min, an expert at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul.  “They are trying to raise the stakes in the nuclear standoff and trying to get the upper hand ahead of possible talks with the United States,” Yoon said (Torchia, Associated Press).

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Iraq:  Baghdad Has Destroyed 52 Al-Samoud 2 Missiles

Iraq today destroyed six banned al-Samoud 2 missiles and three warheads for the missiles, bringing the total of destroyed missiles to 52, U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said today (see GSN, March 6; Hassan Hafidh, Reuters, March 10).

Yesterday, Iraq destroyed six al-Samoud 2 missiles and 11 warheads, according to a U.N. press release (U.N. release, March 9).  On Saturday, Iraq destroyed six of the banned missiles and three warheads (U.N. release, March 8).

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Pakistan:  Army Receives Nuclear-Capable Hatf 4 Ballistic Missile

The Pakistani army’s Strategic Force Command has formally received the nuclear-capable Hatf 4 medium-range ballistic missile, also known as the Shaheen 1, The Hindu reported today (see GSN, Jan. 9).

The missile has a range of 750 kilometers and is considered to be highly accurate, according to The Hindu.

During the transfer ceremony, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said the country had a sufficient deterrent capability to defend itself.  While Pakistan supports peace in South Asia, it will not compromise on its minimum defense needs, Musharraf said (see GSN, Jan. 30; B. Muralidhar Reddy, The Hindu, March 7).

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China:  U.S. Companies Settle Charges Over China’s Missile Program

Two U.S. companies, Boeing and Hughes Electronics, agreed yesterday to pay $32 million in fines to settle U.S. State Department charges that they illegally transferred sensitive space technologies to China that could have aided Beijing’s long-range missile development (see GSN, Jan. 3).

Under the settlement, the two companies will pay $20 million over the next seven years and allocate an additional $8 million to develop internal export control processes, according to the Washington Post.  They have also agreed to hire an outside special compliance officer.

State had charged that Hughes Electronics, which Boeing purchased in 2000, had illegally provided China with detailed rocketry briefings to aid Beijing in determining the causes of two failed space launches in 1995 and 1996 (see GSN, Jan. 2).  The U.S. companies had argued that their actions were governed at the time by Commerce Department regulations, which gave them more leeway in working with Chinese officials.  In the settlement, however, Boeing and Hughes Electronics admitted they were at fault — a key element, according to a State official.

In a joint statement, Boeing and Hughes Electronics acknowledged the “nature and seriousness of the offenses charged by the Department of State, including the harm such offenses could cause to the security and foreign policy interests of the United States” (Renae Merle, Washington Post, March 6).

U.S. Representatives Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) and Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who headed a 1998 congressional committee that investigated the information transfers to China, praised the settlement today.

“This steep fine and sobering result is another reminder that effectively preventing weapons proliferation requires vigilant enforcement of export controls on military technology,” Cox and Dicks said in a joint statement (Jeff Gerth, New York Times, March 6).

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Iraq:  Baghdad Has Destroyed 34 al-Samoud 2 Missiles

Iraq today destroyed six prohibited al-Samoud 2 missiles, bringing the total of destroyed missiles to date to 34, an Iraqi official said (see GSN, March 5).  The missiles were destroyed at al-Taji air base, about 25 miles north of Baghdad, the official said (Reuters, March 6).

Yesterday, Iraq destroyed nine al-Samoud 2 missiles, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency press release.  Inspectors also observed the concrete casing of two destroyed casting chambers (IAEA release, March 5).

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Iraq:  Baghdad to Destroy Nine al-Samoud 2 Missiles Today

Iraq plans to destroy an additional nine banned al-Samoud 2 missiles today, according to Uday al-Ta'ae, a senior Iraqi Information Ministry official (see GSN, March 4; Reuters, March 5).

Iraq yesterday destroyed three al-Samoud 2 missiles, bringing the total to date to 19, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency press release.  Iraqi technicians also destroyed an al-Samoud 2 missile launcher, five missile engines and completed the destruction of a second casting chamber for al-Samoud 2 components (IAEA release, March 4).

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