North Korea:  Taiwan Searches North Korean Ship

Taiwanese officials today boarded a North Korean ship after receiving U.S. intelligence that it might contain chemicals that could be used to build ballistic missiles, according to the Central News Agency (see GSN, July 25).

Customs officials searched the North Korean freighter Be Gaehung, which arrived yesterday in Kaohsiung Harbor after leaving Bangkok.  U.S. intelligence suspected that the ship was transporting one metric ton of aluminum hydroxide compound, also known as hydrafil, to North Korea.  Hydrafil can be used for both civilian purposes and in making the outer shell of a ballistic missile (Central News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 8).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang and Tehran Discussing Missile Purchase

The Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported today that North Korea is currently negotiating to sell Iran Taepodong 2 long-range ballistic missiles, according to Reuters (see GSN, July 25).

North Korea plans to ship Taepodong 2 components to Iran, where they will then be assembled at a factory near Tehran, according to the Japanese newspaper.  North Korea is also planning to dispatch missile experts to Iran and to work with Tehran on the joint development of nuclear warheads (see related GSN story, today).

North Korea and Iran have been discussing plans for increased missile and nuclear weapons cooperation for about a year, the Japanese newspaper reported.  The two countries are expected to reach an agreement by mid-October (Reuters/CNN.com, Aug. 6).

Clinton Invited Kim to White House to Reach Missile Agreement

Meanwhile, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has disclosed in a new book that former President Bill Clinton invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to visit Washington to reach an agreement to stop Pyongyang’s missile program.

In late 2000, Clinton secretly asked Kim to travel to Washington in an attempt to persuade Kim to sign an agreement ceasing all North Korean missile activities, including missile-related exports, according to Albright’s book Madam Secretary, excerpts of which are to be published in the September issue of Vanity Fair.  Clinton issued the invitation after determining that time constraints and other issues would prevent him from accepting Kim’s public invitation to travel to Pyongyang. 

Kim, however, turned down Clinton’s invitation (George Gedda, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 6).

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