Media: Russia and China helped North Korea to develop missiles
A German political scientist claims that many facts indicate that North Korea’s successfully launched missiles were actually produced in China and Russia.
Joachim Krause, a German political scientist and the head of the Institute for Security Policy in Kiel made these assertions in an article for the German edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Krause claims that Moscow poses as a level-headed mediator in the conflict but plays a double game, so the West should ask Putin how Pyongyang provoked an international crisis with the help of Russian missile technologies.
The DPRK suddenly, as if by magic, conducted a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of November. Experts began to seriously doubt that a country lacking a special technological and industrial base and financial resources could effortlessly make such a technological leap in such a short time, Krause points out.
He noted that the more powerful developing countries, such as Iran, Egypt, Pakistan or Iraq, have been unable to achieve this so far. Obviously, there is something wrong here, the German political scientist insists, at the same time asking what role the Russian president has played in the achievements of North Korea.
According to German experts who investigated the technical side of the issue, the missiles launched by Pyongyang did not necessarily have to be produced on its territory. To develop and manufacture such weapons, the country needed a sample, and it would have to go along a certain technological path, which, however, did not happen, Krause assures.
Test launches of rockets were demonstrative because beforehand, the "new" weapons had been thoroughly tested and worked on somewhere else, the author of the article believes. Moreover, the technologies that were primarily used in the production of these missiles were developed and tested by the USSR in the 1950s to 1960s.
German researchers argue that the long-range missiles launched by North Korea are not identical to known types of Soviet missiles. The more likely models are prototypes that were developed and produced in the 50-60's but were never mass produced.
Krause emphasized that no matter who bears responsibility for North Korea’s access to special technology, whether it is the Russian government or a criminal syndicate, the fact of the matter is that Russia’s doors are now open for the transfer of missiles and missile technology to North Korea.
In August, the New York Times, citing expert analysis, reported that the DPRK's success in testing intercontinental missiles was made possible by rocket engines manufactured at a Ukrainian plant in Yuzhmash.