Iran and N Korea working on missiles - report
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SEOUL: North Korea has been working closely with[ Iran to develop its long-range ballistic missiles, possibly using Chinese technology, and is building large bases to prepare for their deployment, a South Korean state-run think tank said.
North Korea is also building new sites near the Demilitarised Zone with the South for short-range missiles and is deploying missiles with improved precision that can strike most of Japan, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) said in a report.
"The development of Taepodong-2 is conducted jointly with Iran, and it is possible China's technology is used in the development of the Taepodong-2 engine," said the IFANS report, which Reuters obtained on Thursday.
The collaboration on the long-range Taepodong-2 is part of an international network, including Pakistan, that made it possible for the impoverished North to develop and deploy missiles despite scarce resources and limited testing, the study said.
With more than 1,000 missiles of various ranges, North Korea has come to have the world's fourth-largest arsenal and is at the centre of ballistic missile proliferation, IFANS said, "not only in terms of the weapons themselves but also the technology."
North Korea fired seven missiles on July 5, including the Taepodong-2, which US officials said failed seconds into its flight and fell into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula.
Christopher Hill, the top US envoy to talks on the North's nuclear programme, said last month one or more Iranians watched the North's missile launch, deepening concerns about the ties between two countries with troubling nuclear capabilities. The Taepodong-2 is the product of joint efforts with Tehran, coinciding with Iran's development of the Shehab-5 and 6 missiles, the report said. "It is highly possible that design and technology from China, which has an arms trade with Iran, were used."
The Taepodong-2's failure was probably because its first-stage booster rocket did not separate, the report said, the latest in a series of problems with the missile, including an explosion during an engine test in 2002.
TACTICAL MISSILES
The Iranian connection in the North's missile programme dates back to the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, when Pyongyang tested and began shipping its Scud-type missiles to Iran, the report said.
The Scud-based arsenal continues to be a threat because, through modification, the weapons "have achieved leaping progress in terms of precision, high mobility and quick firing rates," the IFANS report said.
The North's purchase of out-dated Soviet submarines in the 1990s, with launch and stabilisation systems intact, has raised concern that North Korea might be trying to arm submarines with tactical missiles, it said.
The North is building a missile command base 50km north of the Demilitarised Zone for as many as 30 mobile launch pads for the Scud-type Hwasong missiles that can hit military and industrial targets deep in the South, IFANS said.
"With the deployment of Rodong and SSN-6 missiles and the pursuit to deploy the Taepodong-2, the North is pushing ahead with the construction of new sites and silos" on the east coast and on the border with China, the IFANS report said.
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