Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

N. Korea admits missile exports, seeks damages

North Korea, suspected of exporting ballistic missiles to Pakistan and Iran, has admitted to the charge and demanded compensation from the United States to stop further proliferation, an American official said here today.

North Korean officials said they would be glad to stop the proliferation of missiles if the US Government was willing to compensate North Korea accordingly, Peter Brookes, aide to US House of Representative's International Relations Committee (HIRC) chairman Benjamin Gilman said.

A four-member fact-finding HIRC team which returned from North Korea was told that the latter earned about $500 million a year from misssile exports.

However, our estimate is that North Korea earns $1.5 billion from missile exports, Brookes said, adding the actions of North Korea were unacceptable to the team.