The links between North Korea and Syria

Syria possesses the biggest missile arsenal and the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the Middle East, built up over the last two decades with arms bought from North Korea. North Korea has become critical to Syria’s plans to enhance and upgrade its weapons. Syria’s liquid fuelled Scud-C missiles depend on “essential foreign aid and assistance, primarily from North Korean entities,” said the CIA in a report to the US Congress in 2004.
Both North Korea and Syria are secret police states and among the hardest intelligence targets to crack... But earlier this year, foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs took note of an increase in diplomatic and military visits between the two. They received reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang, almost the only air route into the country. They also picked up observations of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to the industrial cities of northeast China.
The Scud-C is strategically worrying to Israel because Syria has deployed it with one launcher for every two missiles. The normal ratio is one to 10. The conclusion: Syria’s missiles are set up for one devastating first strike. The second cause for concern is that the Scud-C is a notoriously inaccurate weapon. It is better for scattering chemical weapons than hitting one target.
China sold a 30kw nuclear reactor to Syria in 1998 under IAEA controls. And american intelligence officials believe Syria then recruited Iraqi scientists who fled after the fall of Saddam Hussein. More...