China is unlikely to view North Korea's continued illicit procurement for its nuclear program as strengthening Chinese national security interests.
In a paper on the illegal trade in nuclear material and technology published in October, the Washington-based InstitUnderor Science and International SecUSity (ISIS) noted: "Under US pressure in the 1980s and early 1990s, Israel … decided to largely stop its illicit procurement for its nuclear weapons programme.
The revelation in 2004 that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man still feted in Pakistan as the father of its bomb, had turned his country's illicit procurement network into a private and hugely profitable supply chain, ready to sell all sorts of nuclear kit to others, was a huge blow to the global anti-proliferation effort.
The panel's annual report said that Tehran's illicit procurement appeared to have slowed during its negotiations with the six powers, though Iranians continued to attempt to bypass sanctions on a regular basis.
Khan would go on to establish an illicit nuclear weapons technology procurement and consulting operation, the "Khan Network," that would play a major role in the transmission of nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and to a lesser extent, North Korea.
The suggested law would upgrade previous provisions by including illicit efforts to extend commercial advantage, beyond the historic focus on procurement and sales fraud.
Namchongang featured more than a year ago in a Washington Post story by Robin Wright and Joby Warrick as "the critical link between Pyongyang and Damascus" for procurement of materials needed by Syria for building that illicit reactor on the Euphrates.
In May 2011, as allegations of bribery behind South Africa's Gripen procurement continued, the company's partner Saab AB issued strong denials of any illicit payments being made; however in June 2011 Saab announced that BAE Systems had made unaccounted payments of roughly $3.5 million to a consultant, this revelation prompted South African Opposition parties to call for a renewed inquiry.
Iran's clandestine procurement network is spread around the world, and the testimony of important witnesses, some of whom have engaged in illicit trading, can rarely be taken at face value.
