U.N. report: North Korea exporting nuclear & missile technology to Iran & Syria

The report was prepared in May by a panel that had been appointed by the UN Security Council. The panel included specialists from China, France, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK and the US. However, the document's submission to the full U.N. Security Council had been held up for months by China, a staunch ally of North Korea. But now, China has finally acquiesced and allowed the report to be submitted - at least that's the official explanation that's been tossed out. Incidentally, the AP [and other news outlets] obtained this document back in May, and reported about it at the time:

From Global Security:

A newly released U.N. report charges that North Korea is annually exporting missiles and weaponry worth $100 million in contravention of international sanctions imposed on the isolated regime...

The report alleges that North Korea is taking part in "nuclear and ballistic missile related activities in certain other countries including Iran, Syria and Myanmar."...

The 75-page document was prepared in May by a panel that included specialists from China, France, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. They were assigned to assess Pyongyang's adherence to sanctions levied in response to its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

The document's submission to the U.N. Security Council was held up for months by China, North Korea's historic ally and defender. Beijing dropped its opposition to the report's release last week.

The North in recent years has been linked to construction of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed in a 2007 Israeli air strike, along with alleged efforts by Myanmar to develop a nuclear-weapon capability...

Responding to the report, the anticipated next head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), yesterday called on the White House to focus on penalties rather than diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang.

"Instead of continuing its failed strategy of seeking to engage the regime in endless negotiation, the administration must ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang," Ros-Lehtinen said...