It’s a chilling reality that North Korea, one of the most isolated nations on the planet, is managing to source significant amounts of electronic components from the U.S. and Europe for its ballistic missiles. This alarming fact was recently uncovered by Conflict Armament Research (CAR), who found that a missile fired by North Korea into Ukraine contained a large number of these components.
The report revealed that out of 290 components analyzed in the missile, about 75% were traced back to U.S.-based companies, while 16% originated from European firms. This raises some serious eyebrows about how North Korea managed to get their hands on these parts, considering they’re under heavy international sanctions. It’s plausible that other foreign companies acted as intermediaries, purchasing the components and then rerouting them to North Korea.
What’s even more concerning is how quickly North Korea was able to gather these parts, assemble a missile, and ship it off to Russia. This suggests they’ve got a pretty slick operation going on that can dodge sanctions with ease.
This should be setting off alarm bells because it means North Korea can get hold of sensitive American technology despite all our efforts to stop them.
The majority of these electronic components were used in the missile’s navigation system. This shows us that North Korea is actively beefing up its ballistic missile capabilities. It’s eerily similar to an earlier CAR report which found U.S. electronic components in Iranian missiles used by Russia.
It looks like Russia, who are also under sanctions, have been getting military aid from countries like North Korea and Iran.
The fallout from this discovery is huge – not just for America but for the entire international community.
We’ve always been committed to stopping our sensitive tech from being used for military purposes by foreign enemies. But this report makes it clear we need to do more to tighten up our export and sanction controls to stop this from happening again.
The White House National Security Council (NSC) has recognized the gravity of these developments. They’ve stated that Russia’s increasing isolation has forced them to turn to “like-minded states” for military equipment. The NSC also stressed the importance of ongoing efforts to prevent American technology from ending up in countries like North Korea and Iran.
A @conflictarm field investigation team recently documented the electronic components of a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in Ukraine on 2 January 2024. CAR investigators documented over 290 components, mostly found in the missile’s navigation system.🧵 (1/6) pic.twitter.com/WxsedC18K6
— CAR (@conflictarm) February 20, 2024
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