14 June 2012

News Story: China Shipped Missile Launch Vehicles to N. Korea


By HARUMI OZAWA

TOKYO — China shipped missile-launch vehicles to North Korea last year in breach of U.N. resolutions but was never rebuked because the United States did not want to embarrass Beijing, a Japanese newspaper reported June 13.

Beijing denied the report, which is based on Japanese government sources and is the most strident of recent claims that China has been involved in helping to arm its wayward ally, after earlier claims Beijing supplied technology.

Four giant trucks capable of transporting and launching ballistic missiles were exported by a Chinese firm last August, Asahi Shimbun reported.

The vehicles were likely those on display at the huge military display in April marking the centenary of the birth of the state’s founder Kim Il Sung, according to Asahi Shimbun.

Read the full story at DefenseNews