Terror

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
by North Korean hackers against American moviegoers, which also fits the legal definition of
international terrorism, is discussed in Section V.
Despite this increase in North Korea’s sponsorship of terrorism, the U.S. State Department’s discussion
of North Korea in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism has remained largely unchanged.
A comparison of the U.S. State Department’s 2005 report, when North Korea was still designated
as an SSOT, 273 reveals it to be nearly identical to the U.S. State Department’s 2013 report, 274 except
that the 2005 report mentions South Korean and third-country nationals held by North Korea.
A. 2009–2014: Suspected Arms Transfers to Terrorists
In 2009, multiple interceptions of North Korean shipments to Iran and its terrorist clients
evidenced the importance of North Korea’s role as a supplier of arms to terrorists backed by Iran.
News reports have alleged that these arms were destined for Iran’s terrorist clients, including
Hezbollah and Hamas. A 2010 Congressional Research Service report cites Israeli and Lebanese
news reports, which in turn quote “Western intelligence sources,” concluding that “most of” the
North Korean weapons seized in 2009 “likely were bound for Hezbollah.” 275
In November 2009, Bloomberg News quoted a 2009 UN POE report alleging that North Korea
operated a “highly sophisticated international network for the acquisition, marketing and sale
of arms and military equipment” that had become “one of the country’s principal sources for
obtaining foreign exchange,” and a source of funding for its nuclear weapons programs. 276 In
2011, Larry Niksch, formerly with the Congressional Research Service, estimated that Pyongyang
earned “between $1.5 billion and $2 billion annually” from its dealings with Iran, including
arms sales to Iranian-backed terrorists. 277
These conclusions are consistent with the findings of the District Court in the Kaplan v. Hezbollah
litigation, that Iran had arranged for North Korea to supply weapons to Hezbollah though Syria
(supra Section III..J).
273 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2005, 175.
274 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2013, 62.
275 Larry A. Niksch, “North Korea: Terrorism List Removal,” CRS Report for Congress RL30613 (06 January 2010),
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/137273.pdf, 18.
276 Bill Varner, “North Korea Arms Trade Funds Nuclear-Bomb Work, UN Panel Says,” Bloomberg, 18 November 2009.
277 Larry A. Niksch, “When North Korea Mounts Nuclear Warheads on Its Missiles,” The Journal of East Asian
Affairs 25.2 (Fall/Winter 2011), 7.
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