107 tons of Korean Sodium Cyanide Illicitly Conveyed to North Korea through China

It was revealed that last year, over 100 tons of Korean-made sodium cyanide, a constituent of toxic gas and so categorized as strategic materials, was illicitly conveyed into North Korea through China without export permits.

It was also confirmed that a Malaysian trading company shipped 40 tons of sodium cyanide to North Korean including a portion of Korean-made sodium cyanide in last August.

This incident shined a light on the blind spot in the export regulations of strategic materials that can be processed into chemical weapons. However, it is not confirmed if North Korea has converted the imported strategic materials into chemical weapons.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MCIE), upon discovering that 107 tons of sodium cyanide had been conveyed to North Korea through China September last year, reported this to the public prosecutors in the next month but has not made an official announcement until now and is triggering an accusation of concealment. On September 24, the MCIE announced that a domestic trading company exported 107 tons of sodium cyanide to a Chinese company without a permit during the months of June to September in 2003 and that the total amount of materials was exported to North Korea.

The MCIE perceived this event in September last year and reported the trading company of violating foreign trading laws to public prosecutors in the following month. The court ruled the trading company guilty on illegal export charges this past January and sentenced a one and a half year imprisonment and two years of probation.

A person related to the MCIE said, “It was determined that the domestic trading company knew the exported sodium cyanide would be transported to North Korea,” and that “the investigation of the prosecutors and the court recognized this fact and determined the punishment.”

The MCIE added that they have obtained information that among the 40 tons of sodium cyanide the Malaysian trading company exported to North Korea, 15 tons were Korean-made and that they are looking into it.

The MCIE announced that among the 388.2 tons of sodium cyanide that was exported to Thailand in May last year by another domestic company, 142.4 tons were recollected in the form of repurchasing, while the rest of the 195.8 tons were used in Thailand and not exported to North Korea.

The MCIE is contriving measures such as strengthening strategic material management to prevent illegal export of strategic materials like sodium cyanide.

Seo Young-joo a Director General for Trade Distribution of the MCIE said, “We have been strengthening export regulations of strategic materials, but there have been reports of illegal exports by passing through a third country; therefore, we are contriving a general countermeasure.”

Chi-Young Shin higgledy@donga.com