Kim Jong-un, center, before a nuclear test at an undisclosed location, according to the North’s state-run news agency. Credit KCNA
Daniel Salisbury, The Conversation: Will North Korea Sell Its Nuclear Technology?
North Korea is more than willing to breach sanctions to earn cash.
Earlier this month CIA Director Mike Pompeo suggested “the North Koreans have a long history of being proliferators and sharing their knowledge, their technology, their capacities around the world.”
My research has shown that North Korea is more than willing to breach sanctions to earn cash.
A checkered history
Over the years North Korea has earned millions of dollars from the export of arms and missiles, and its involvement in other illicit activities such as smuggling drugs, endangered wildlife products and counterfeit goods.
Still, there are only a handful of cases that suggest these illicit networks have been turned to export nuclear technology or materials to other states.
North Korean technicians allegedly assisted the Pakistanis in production of Krytrons, likely sometime in the 1990s. Krytrons are devices used to trigger the detonation of a nuclear device.
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WNU Editor: It is always about the money. And while I do not see North Korea selling a nuclear weapon or two (for now), selling the know-how is not a stretch. The question that needs to be asked is .... what are we going to do about it? Specifically .... since China has been the way-station for the North Koreans to do business with the outside world, what will the Chinese do to change this behavior. As of today .... aside a few sanctions .... the Chinese are not instilling much confidence.
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Buyers with enough cash would be Iranian or Saudi backed terror groups. Their targets would be 1. Americans 2. Europeans. Kim Jong Un would sell a nuclear device for a few billions if and only if it cannot be traced back to him. It likely could be traced back, so until he turns suicidal or the sale coincides with a declaration of war (at which point he'll take any route ) we should be safe from such a scenario. I'd be more scared about Pakistan. They often drive their nukes around in unmarked but not heavily protected trucks. You could take over a truck and steal a device (or several) with maybe as few as 20 fighters. And you might have people on the inside. After all Pakistan - while fighting the fight against terror - is also a part of it.
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