United Nations investigators have found evidence of North Korean supplies shipped to the Syrian regime to produce chemical weapons.
According to a report written by an eight-member panel of experts monitoring North Korean compliance with UN sanctions, the supplies from North Korea included acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers.
In addition, North Korean missile technicians were spotted at work at known Syrian facilities for chemical weapons and missiles, according to the report, which is more than 200 pages long, and was not released publicly but was quoted by The New York Times.
The report includes documentation such as bills of lading that identify items shipped, and copies of contracts between North Korea and Syria. It also provides details of the military relationship between the two countries – one that stretches back decades, and which has continued to this day.
The North Korean components spotted by the UN inspectors were part of at least 40 previously unreported shipments from North Korea to Syria between 2012 and 2017 containing prohibited ballistic missile parts, as well as dual use materials (that could be utilized for both civilian and military purposes.)
According to The New York Times, the eight experts who authored the report are each from different nations and are experts in different areas such as weapons of mass destruction, maritime transport and customs controls. The panel has been mandated since 2010 by the UN Security Council to monitor North Korean sanctions violations and present its findings in an annual report.
Israeli military and security officials have been closely monitoring events across the northern border; For years Israeli leaders have expressed concern that Syria’s chemical weapons might be “gifted” to the regime’s allied Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps or Hezbollah guerrilla forces, or might fall into the hands of other equally dangerous terrorist groups for use against citizens of the Jewish State.