S. Korea reports missiles accounted for 7 percent of N. Korean exports
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, September 29, 1999
NICOSIA -- The South Korean Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that
North Korea has sold military hardware, including Scud-B and Scud-C
missiles, worth about $800 million, to countries in the Middle
East and in Southeast Asia since 1991.
The report, submitted to the National Assembly for parliamentary
inspection, showed North Korea exported weapons worth $50 million over the
past three years, which accounted for about 7% of North Korea's export
volume.
Turkey reported on Tuesday that it successfully tested a new rocket.
Turkish government officials said they have accelerated efforts to develop
rocket and missile technology. The Defence Research and Development
Institute, set up as part of the Turkish Scientific and Technical Research
Institution (TUBITAK), which developed the rocket, said the rocket weighs
150 kilos and has a 60-km range.
On Oct. 2, the Pentagon plans to conduct the first-ever intercept test
of the proposed National Missile Defense [NMD] system.
This is the first of three intercept attempts planned before a major
program review in June 2000, which could lead to a presidential decision to
begin deployment in 2001. Clinton will base his decision in part on the
technical readiness of the technical readiness of the NMD system, defined by
criteria issued by the Pentagon earlier this month.
At a London conference on ballistic missiles, sponsored by Jane's
Defence
Weekly, editor of the Jane's Sentinel, Ben Sheppard, advised
Western countries to embark on a missile propaganda campaign.
"In an age where public support for military operations is ever more
important, it is time for the west to draw up contingency plans on how to
respond if faced with this political-psychological threat," he said on
Monday. An information campaign "could make the difference to whether they
could protect their allies and interests abroad or at the extreme be forced
to capitulate," Sheppard said.
Wednesday, September 29, 1999
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