N. Korean missile found in Ukraine used European, US-made parts

KYODO – A North Korean missile fired into eastern Ukraine by Russia contained hundreds of electronic components that trace back to companies headquartered in Europe, the United States, Japan, China and elsewhere, according to a British research institute.

The findings by Conflict Armament Research show that North Korea can acquire parts from overseas to manufacture weapons, circumventing United Nations (UN) sanctions imposed to curb its ballistic missile and nuclear development programs.

The institute analysed the debris from a North Korean-made missile recovered from the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv on Jan 2 and found that over 290 of its electronic components bear the brands of 26 companies headquartered in China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US.

Of the components, 75.5% were related to companies in the United States, 11.9% to companies in Germany and 3.1% to those in Japan, with most manufactured within the last three years, the institute said.

Based on the findings, the institute concluded that the missile could not have been assembled before March last year.

North Korea “has developed a robust acquisition network capable of circumventing, without detection, sanction regimes that have been in place for nearly two decades,” said the institute in the report. The entity did not disclose the names of the companies.