Russia 'did nuclear deal' with Koreans
Sunday July 09 2006
RUSSIA IS facing criticism after secretly offering to sell North Korea technology that could help the state to protect its nuclear stockpiles and safeguard weapons secrets from international scrutiny.
Russian officials touted the equipment at an IT exhibition in Pyongyang a fortnight ago - just days before the Communist state caused international alarm by launching a salvo of short and long-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.
In seemingly unguarded comments, Aleksei Grigoriev, the deputy director of Russia's Federal Information Technologies Agency, told a reporter that North Korea planned to buy equipment for the safe storage and transportation of nuclear materials, developed by a Russian government-controlled defence company.
The company, Atlas, also received interest from the North Koreans in their security systems and encryption technology.
In remarks made to the Russian Itar-Tass news agency - hastily retracted after publication - Mr Grigoriev said that the main aim of the June 28 exhibition was "establishing contacts with the Korean side and discussing future cooperation".
Last week Russia, along with China, opposed a draft UN Security Council resolution, proposed by Japan and backed by America, that would bar missile-related financial and technology transactions with North Korea because of the missile tests.
As tensions over the missile tests mounted, the US government yesterday deployed its USS Mustin, equipped with so-called Aegis missile-tracking technology, to Yokosuka, home port to the US Navy's 7th Fleet.
Last Friday, George W Bush called for the issue of the tests to be put before the Security Council. He said he wanted to make clear to Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, "with more than one voice" that the rest of the world condemned Wednesday's launches.
After the show, which led to plans for further meetings between the Russian and North Korean delegations, Mr Grigoriev said Pyongyang's primary interest in buying the equipment was to combat the "threat posed by international terrorism".
However, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang immediately denied the report, claiming that it was "disinformation". Mr Grigoriev subsequently denied ever having spoken to the journalist concerned.
Disclosures of a possible deal are at odds with official Russian policy towards North Korea's nuclear programme. On June 22, North Korea's ambassador to Russia, Park Yi Joon, was informed that Russia "strongly objects to any actions that can negatively influence regional stability and worsen nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula". There was also some anger domestically at Russia's opposition to the UN sanctions resolution. © Telegraph
