Singapore says it will look into allegations that a trading firm based in the country brokered the export of North Korean rocket launchers to Myanmar.
Singapore's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it takes the allegation seriously.
On Wednesday, NHK reported that the trading firm was involved in the export. Quoting diplomats, NHK reported that the multiple-launch rocket system in question has a range of 65 kilometers.
Diplomats told NHK that North Korea began exporting rocket launchers to Myanmar after the 2 countries restored diplomatic ties in April last year.
The ties were severed in 1983 after a North Korean bomb attack on a South Korean presidential delegation in Myanmar, then called Burma. Four officials were killed in the attack.
After North Korea's nuclear test in October 2006, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution banning the country from trading nuclear weapons and missiles as well as conventional arms.
Singapore's Foreign Ministry said in its statement that it is committed to fulfilling its international obligations to prevent the proliferation and illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.
The United States and South Korea have expressed concern over the alleged arms sales.
2008/04/04 16:47 (http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_24.html)
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