The Marmot’s Hole

For some time, there has been talk of North Korea giving aid to Syria’s development of a nuclear weapons program.  Recently, Israeli jets made a mysterious mission into Syria, striking something but no one is talking — except for the North Koreans.  The North Koreans have been a supplier of missiles and technology to Syria in the past and are present in several countries in the Middle East.  As such, it would appear that the North Koreans are exporting arms technology.  As per a quote from acting deputy assistant secretary for nuclear nonproliferation policy Andrew Semmel:

“There are North Korean people there (Syria). There’s no question about that. Just as there are a lot of North Koreans in Iraq and Iran.”

Though the North Koreans are known to sell missiles, the Syrians, perhaps in response to Israel military might and Iran’s meddling, are reported to be interested in a nuclear weapons program. 

As the Washington Post reports:

. . . a prominent U.S. expert on the Middle East, who has interviewed Israeli participants in a mysterious raid over Syria last week, reported that the attack appears to have been linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying material from North Korea labeled as cement.

The expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid compromising his sources, said the target of the attack appears to have been a northern Syrian facility that was labeled an agricultural research center on the Euphrates River, close to the Turkish border. Israel has kept a close eye on the facility, believing that Syria was using it to extract uranium from phosphates.

The expert said it is not clear what the ship was carrying, but the emerging consensus in Israel was that it delivered nuclear equipment. The ship arrived Sept. 3 in the Syrian port of Tartus; the attack occurred Sept. 6

This collection of reports would seem to support the concerns of some that the current administration in the United States is negotiating prematurely with North Korea:

. . . Some have argued the administration is being snookered by Pyongyang to give up concessions without learning the full extent of its activities.

Perhaps John Bolton has reasons for his concerns after all since, once again, it appears that North Korea can not be trusted and it is also telling that China — a member of the six-party process — reportedly used the same expression to condemn the Israeli raid as did North Korea.