CIA official calls N. Korea top missile supplier

WASHINGTON -- North Korea has overtaken Russia as the world's major supplier of ballistic missile technology and equipment to the Middle East and Africa.

A top U.S. intelligence official told a Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee,Wednesday, that North Korea is also a major contributor to nuclear weapons proliferation.

"A few years ago I would have said Russia, it would have been easy. But North Korea has been doing so much, it's a hard call," Robert Walpole, CIA national intelligence officer for strategic and nuclear programs told the Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee on international security, proliferation and federal services.

"Worldwide missile proliferation has continued to evolve during the past 18 months. Missile capabilities are growing, as demonstrated by North Korea's Taepodong-1 launch. The number of missiles is increasing; medium and short-range ballistic missile systems already pose a significant threat to U.S. forces and allies overseas,'' Walpole said Wednesday. "We have seen increased trade and cooperation among countries that have been recipients of missile technologies,'' he said.

Walpole said there was evidence that North Korea was continuing its missile program despite that, earlier this year, the U.S. eased eased economic sanctions in return for a pledge by Pyongyang to stop test flights of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile.

"Our judgment is that they are continuing the program. We don't believe the program has ended. The non-flight testing aspects of the program are continuing,'' he told the Senate panel. "The program is still alive.''

Walpole didn't deny a report in the Washington Times, Wednesday, that North Korea had supplied 12 medium-range ballistic missile engines to Iran last November, but he called the "leak abominable."

"I hate leaks like this,'' Walpole said. 'Those engines are critical to the Taepodong program and they would be critical to the Shahab program.''

The Washington Times said Pyongyang supplied the engines to an Iranian government agency involved in missile production. U.S. officials said that nine days later, the engines arrived in Iran after they were spotted being loaded aboard an Iran Air Boeing 747 cargo jet that left Sunan International Airfield, about 20 kilometers [12 miles] north of Pyongyang.