Libya to Terminate Arms Deal with North Korea

Libya said that it will end all military trade with North Korea and convert its Scud-B missiles, limiting its firing range.

The New York Times reported on April 11 that American and British officials said, “Libya will declare these plans publicly” while conveying the result of their discussions in London and in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

The New York Times wrote that Libya has accepted the request of the United States and Great Britain to renounce its arms deal with North Korea and either to destroy or convert its Scud-B missiles, which have a range of 300 kilometers and warheads with a payload of 1,000 kilograms of explosives, to shorter-range, less destructive weapons intended for defensive use.

American officials said Libya`s latest decision was yet another indication of their desire to carry out their pledge made back in December 2003 to abandon their weapons of mass destruction.

Libya has already disassembled the Scud-C missiles with a range of 800 kilometers that it secretly purchased from North Korea, along with equipment and materials related to nuclear and chemical weapons and turned them over to the United States last month.

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com