A recent report reveals that a North Korean ballistic missile, fired last month by the Russian military in Ukraine, contained numerous components sourced from companies in the US and Europe. This marks the first public disclosure of North Korea's use of foreign technology for its missile program, highlighting an ongoing challenge for the Biden administration in preventing Western-made microelectronics, intended for civilian purposes, from being used in weapons by North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
The UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR) examined 290 components from a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in January from Kharkiv, Ukraine. The report indicates that 75% of these components were designed and sold by US-based companies, with an additional 16% linked to European companies, and 9% to Asian companies. These components, mainly comprising the missile's navigation system, were traced back to 26 companies headquartered in the US, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
Despite extensive sanctions and export controls, the Biden administration has struggled to prevent US and Western components, including American-made microelectronics, from ending up in Iranian-made drones launched by Russia into Ukraine. A task force was established in late 2022 to investigate these issues, but progress remains unclear.
The report does not name specific companies responsible for producing the components, as there is no evidence of deliberate shipment to North Korea. Instead, the components likely entered the global supply chain and were diverted along the way. CAR aims to work with these companies to address the issue rather than publicly shaming them.
The research also indicates that North Korea was able to quickly produce and ship the missile to Russia, with components manufactured between 2021 and 2023. This suggests that the missile could not have been assembled before March 2023 and was in use by Russia in Ukraine by January.
The findings highlight the challenge of controlling the destination of commercial electronics, particularly semiconductor components, once they enter the global supply chain. North Korea's ability to acquire these components undetected underscores the failure of sanction regimes in place for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, the Biden administration faces challenges in providing new weaponry to the Ukrainian military due to a lack of approved funding from Congress.
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