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North Korea steps closer to end-game in nuclear quest. US-North Korea war of words fuels alarm across Asia. Kyodo News via AP. Related coverage. SKorean candidate takes tough line on NKorea nuclear program. Seoul rejects refugee claims by Chinese N. Korean defectors. Bennett and Diana Y. In many ways, COVID provided a convenient excuse for Kim Jong-un to close the borders in the name of public health while simultaneously signaling to Beijing that he did not want Chinese aid, even if it meant having to starve his own people.
Kim likely wants the border closed to also limit Chinese influence and leverage in the North's internal affairs. China's main goal with North Korea has always been regional stability. From a Chinese perspective, while Kim's nuclear weapons may not be ideal, the situation could become more dangerous should a power vacuum be introduced. Despite Beijing's rhetoric purporting the desire for an eventual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, China's priority has always been maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region.
North Korea's denuclearization efforts remain a secondary concern for China, Beijing apparently perceiving that Pyongyang's nuclear weapons pose a minimal threat to China.
Moreover, Beijing is likely pleased that North Korea wants to drive U. Over the same period, the UN Panel of Experts , which assesses compliance with economic and trade sanctions on North Korea, reported numerous times when North Korean entities sold technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction WMD to buyers in the Middle East.
Since , the United States has led the UN Security Council to pass eight main resolutions imposing wide-ranging sanctions. These resolutions prohibit, among other items, North Korean exports of coal and seafood and remittances from North Korean overseas workers, while also embargoing North Korean imports of refined petroleum, technology and equipment for its nuclear and missile programs, and a range of other goods.
Foreign diplomats have left North Korea over the difficult living conditions and shortages of medicine and basic goods in Pyongyang. It is little surprise that North Korea is increasingly reliant on cyber attacks and cryptocurrency theft to generate revenue.
Notably, North Korea clandestinely sought to construct a nuclear reactor in Syria, a facility that might have provided plutonium for a Syrian bomb program until Israel destroyed the partly built reactor with air strikes in Iranian scientists reportedly went to North Korea to discuss rocket booster technology, while thirteen North Korean experts are believed to have visited Iran to assist with liquid-fueled ballistic missiles.
According to the report, the cooperation between North Korean and Iranian entities also extends to illicit shipments of valves, electronics, and other missile-related equipment. Until now, apart from the reactor project in Syria, North Korea is not known to have transferred more sensitive nuclear technologies—longer-range missiles, nuclear weapon designs, equipment or technology to produce highly enriched uranium or plutonium for a bomb, or those materials themselves.
Presumably, North Korean leaders historically have believed that such transfers could cross an implicit red line and result in harsher consequences when discovered. Now, increasingly desperate for cash, Kim could be more willing to risk sales of these items to interested customers in the Middle East, including possibly terrorist groups.
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