North Korea is importing parts and materials that are ostensibly for civilian manufacturing and research but are actually intended for the development of nuclear weapons and missiles, Daily NK has learned.
“Trading companies with overseas operations received orders from the Party’s Munitions Industry Department on Feb. 12 to actively cooperate with importing samples of precision parts and special alloys to further the development of missile guidance and control systems, warheads and engines,” a source in North Korea told Daily NK recently.
According to the source, these orders were delivered on the same day to North Korean companies with branches overseas such as the Myongan Trading Company and the Tongmyong Technology Trade Company. These two companies — which operate in Russia and Laos, respectively — are believed to run foreign currency-earning operations staffed by North Korean IT professionals, with the proceeds going toward nuclear weapon and missile development.
The Munitions Industry Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea plans to label precision machine parts and chips imported from Russia and Southeast Asia as being used for manufacturing routine electronic equipment. But in reality, those parts will be used to develop missile guidance and control systems.
“A key task for the armament sector in the first half of the year is to enhance the precision of missile guidance and control mechanisms. The parts being imported will play a key role in making missile targeting more accurate,” the source said.
The high-performance semiconductors and microcontrollers that North Korea is importing under false pretenses are needed to develop guidance and control mechanisms for ballistic missiles. In addition, the special alloys and heat-resistant carbon fiber that are supposedly being imported for research purposes are intended to strengthen missile warheads and improve the performance of missile propellant.
Related organizations have already set about acquiring the materials that the Munitions Industry Department has designated as key import items for the first half of the year.
The North Korean authorities are seeking to circumvent sanctions on North Korea by importing parts and materials nominally designated for civilian industrial and research purposes but actually intended for use in developing nuclear weapons and missiles.
But North Korea maintains the legality of these activities. “The Munitions Industry Department insisted that North Korea is ‘just conducting legal trade as other countries do’ and that ‘it goes without saying that trading companies need to support these imports,’” the source said.
After North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in October 2006, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on the North in the form of Resolution 1718. The sanctions resolution prohibited anything related to nuclear weapons or missiles from being exported to the North.
But North Korea has managed to continue developing nuclear weapons and missiles by importing key components and materials, while concealing their true purpose behind a façade of civilian manufacturing and research.
The precision machine parts, chips and special alloys that will soon be imported via Russia and Southeast Asia will presumably all be used to enhance the performance of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles. There are concerns that these efforts pose a serious threat to international security.
“Officials feel confident they can perfect the missiles as long as they have enough precision parts. The Munitions Industry Department will probably accelerate imports of these materials according to plan,” the source said.
February 18, 2025 at 10:30AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)