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N. Korea missile firm sanctioned
From CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has slapped sanctions on a North Korean company for shipping missile technology to Yemen last December, even though it allowed Yemen to keep the missiles. On July 17 the United States imposed missile proliferation sanctions on the North Korean company, Changgwang Sinyong Corp., for "knowing involvement" in the transfer of missile technology to Yemen, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday. The sanctions were announced in the Federal Register Friday, adding to sanctions already in place against the company and the North Korean government. In December the North Korean freighter So San was stopped and boarded by a Spanish frigate crew about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) southeast of Yemen. Spain was given U.S. intelligence to be on the lookout for the ship. Spanish and U.S. inspectors found more than a dozen Scud missiles aboard. The Yemeni government sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador in Sana protesting the seizure and demanding the return of the 15 Scuds, saying they were purchased for use by the Yemeni military from North Korea. In a stunning decision, the United States allowed the shipment to proceed to Yemen, which has cooperated in the U.S.-led war on terror. U.S. officials said at the time there was no provision under international law prohibiting Yemen from accepting the delivery of the missiles, even though the administration has said it saw no strategic reason the Yemeni military would need the missiles. Boucher said that while the export of this missile technology is subject to sanctions, "it's consistent with law not to impose sanctions on Yemen." "That's the decision we made because of the kind of relationship we have with Yemen, the political process and the decision we made at the time to allow them to accept these missiles as a completion of an order that would not be repeated," Boucher said. Existing sanctions"We have assurances that this was the last part of the shipment and that there will be no further shipments." Earlier this month, the State Department imposed additional sanctions on Changgwang Sinyong Corp., under the Iran Non-proliferation Act, for selling sensitive arms technology to Iran. The new action will extend the sanctions until March 2007. An amendment to the legislation requires the sanctions to apply to the North Korean government, but it will have little added effect because of tough existing sanctions against Pyongyang. "Obviously we're not selling high-tech electronic systems, space systems or equipment or military aircraft to the North Korean government," Boucher said. The United States has formed a coalition with 10 other states that have agreed to interdict any shipment coming from North Korea believed to contain weapons of mass destruction as a matter of national security. Last month, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton went to Yemen on a "secret mission to say North Korea is now radioactive, in the same status as Iraq, and purchases of their missiles have a direct negative effect on U.S. security," according to an administration official. (New nuke threat)
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