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To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (763547)	7/20/2007 11:27:16 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

North Korea Tech Transfer Why was the U.N. helping Pyongyang obtain militarily useful computers and GPS systems? BY MELANIE KIRKPATRICK Friday, July 20, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT Of all the evidence turned up by the U.S. concerning irregularities in the United Nations Development Program's operations in North Korea, some of the most disturbing concerns the transfer of dual-use technology. As reported last month, the U.S. has uncovered documents showing the UNDP procured and delivered to North Korea in May 2006 technology that could be used for military purposes: global positioning system (GPS) equipment, a portable high-end spectrometer and a large quantity of high-specification computer hardware. According to packing lists and confirmation receipts, the items were intended for a "GIS"--geographic information system--project. The equipment "is the type of technology subject to (U.S.) export controls," says a spokesman for the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which is responsible for issuing export licenses. So how did it end up in Pyongyang? It would seem more than passing strange that Commerce would have issued the requisite export licenses. The answer is: It didn't. U.S. officials, led by Ambassador Mark Wallace at the U.S. mission to the U.N., have spent a year looking into the UNDP's operations in North Korea. Now, at the request of the State Department, Commerce searched its archives and found no record of any application for export licenses for the GPS, spectrometer or other equipment for the GIS project in North Korea. Over the past 10 years, Commerce has received more than 200 license applications to export U.S. technology for U.N. projects in North Korea. Of those applications, the UNDP was named in a grand total of two, including one for software for the same GIS project that was equipped last year. That application was rejected. Previously undisclosed documents show that the UNDP had been trying to equip the GIS project since at least 1999, when the application for an export license for mapping software was denied. Commerce cited concerns over the lack of safeguards in the project that could result in the software being diverted to the North Korean government and used for military purposes. Yet seven years later, the UNDP procured and transferred sensitive technology to the same, unsafeguarded project--this time without bothering to apply for a license. And while there's no evidence the UNDP went ahead and purchased the software for which it had been denied a license, that possibility must be considered, since GPS equipment is useless in such a project without mapping software. The denial notice for "Case Number: Z177037" is dated Sept. 18, 1999. The "consignee in country of ultimate destination" is listed as the UNDP in Pyongyang. The one-page notice is written in prose that is clear and unambiguous: "The Department of Commerce has concluded that this export would be detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests." The 14 items on the UNDP's wish list were all classified "EAR99," which means they are subject to Commerce jurisdiction but didn't specifically appear on the Commerce Control List of items restricted for export. In discussions over the past several weeks with State Department officials, Commerce officials who examined the archives explained their agency's decision to deny the export license. During the interagency review of the UNDP request, they say, questions were raised about whether the software would stay in North Korea after the UNDP international staff left and whether North Koreans would have access to the software. Read the rest at: Message 23718811