Five Korean Companies Exported Banned Goods To Iraq

The New York Times reported on October 8 that five South Korean enterprises and some North Korean enterprises were among the foreign enterprises that supplied goods to Iraq under Saddam Hussein by violating United Nations sanctions.

The Korean companies that The New York Times named, citing Charles Duelfer`s Iraq Survey Group report, are LG Inotech, Shinsung Compnay, Unimo Technology, Techmate Corporation of Korea, and Amitel. The names of the North Korean companies involved were not disclosed.

According to Duelfer’s report, five South Korean, North Korean and Russian companies sold military computer equipment, high-tech communications equipment and radar equipment to the Military Industrial Committee of Iraq.

However, the report said that “There’s no evidence that the Korean government was involved in exports of these banned goods.”

Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com