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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| North Korean Plane Was Grounded at U.S. Request |
| 2008-11-01 |
| India blocked a North Korean plane from delivering cargo to Iran in August, responding to a U.S. request based on fears about the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The secret action, described by Western and Asian officials, took place nine weeks before President George W. Bush removed North Korea from Washington's list of terrorism sponsors, as part of an agreement to declaw the North's nuclear program. U.S. diplomats say engaging North Korea is the best way to ensure its nuclear program doesn't grow more dangerous. But the August incident underscores concern about the Stalinist state's ties to America's foes across the globe. U.S. intelligence officials have said North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor until the site was bombed by Israel last year. Syria and North Korea reject the charge. According to the Western and Asian officials, the North Korean plane, an Ilyushin-62 long-range jet owned by the North Korean state airline, made a stop in Myanmar on Aug. 7 and sought permission from Indian air-traffic controllers to fly over Indian airspace. India eventually blocked the flight at Washington's behest, the officials said. Neither the White House nor the Indian prime minister's office would comment on the operation or describe the cargo believed to be aboard the plane. But officials familiar with the matter said the move was part of the Bush administration's Proliferation Security Initiative, which aims to block the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Any action under the initiative would be ordered only if the plane was suspected of carrying nuclear materials, long-range missile components or other potentially lethal cargo, they said. The U.S. has long charged Pyongyang with supplying missile technologies to countries like Iran, Syria and Libya. In June 2007, the Bush administration worked with allies to block a Syrian aircraft from landing in Pyongyang on the belief it was engaged in the missile trade. A 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution bars North Korean involvement in long-range missile sales or purchases. "We never saw nuclear cooperation" between North Korea and Iran, "but ballistic-missile cooperation is a key part of the process of delivering a nuclear payload," said John Bolton, who started the antiproliferation initiative and helped to oversee it as a State Department official during President Bush's first term. In October, the Bush administration reached a nuclear deal with Kim Jong Il's government that focuses on verifying the dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and shutting down other parts of North Korea's nuclear program. However the agreement doesn't outline steps to end North Korea's production and sales of its medium- and long-range missiles, known as the Nodong and Taepodong. On Oct. 23, the State Department blacklisted two North Korean companies, Korea Mining Development Corp. and Korea Taesong Trading Co., for violating U.S. bans on the sale of equipment used in building missiles or other weapons of mass destruction to Iran and Syria. The State Department's point man on North Korea, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, has regularly argued that engaging North Korea and dispatching inspectors to the country greatly enhances Washington's ability to monitor Pyongyang's activities. U.S. officials also say North Korea's missile program can be addressed as negotiations gain momentum and Pyongyang gains confidence in diplomacy. In the August incident, the North Korean Air Koryo jet, which had stopped in Mandalay, Myanmar, was initially given permission by air-traffic control in Kolkata to fly through Indian airspace. At 6:35 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Aug. 7, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi sent a message to the Kolkata controllers canceling permission, according to D. Guin, a supervisor at Kolkata Air Traffic Control. Mr. Guin reviewed the flight records of Air Koryo Flight 621 at the request of The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Guin said the denial was then passed on to air traffic control officials in Yangon, Myanmar's capital, who turned back the flight. A Western official working on antiproliferation activities who was briefed on the Indian action said the U.S. requested the move in support of its antiproliferation program. The official didn't specify the cargo but said the Air Koryo flight was scheduled to fly to Iran. "North Korea has been supplying missiles to Iran and Syria for some time," said the official. "North Korea has never agreed to stop selling arms to anyone," despite the nuclear accord, he said. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #1 So, since it's asserted that the plane never reached Iran, is this another load awaiting the Iran Deyanat? |
| Posted by: logi_cal 2008-11-01 21:54 |