This story seems to be getting some legs with the Washington Post picking up on the seriousness of this allegation:

North Korea may be cooperating with Syria on some sort of nuclear facility in Syria, according to new intelligence the United States has gathered over the past six months, sources said. The evidence, said to come primarily from Israel, includes dramatic satellite imagery that led some U.S. officials to believe that the facility could be used to produce material for nuclear weapons.

The new information, particularly images received in the past 30 days, has been restricted to a few senior officials under the instructions of national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of it or uncertain of its significance, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Some cautioned that initial reports of suspicious activity are frequently reevaluated over time and were skeptical that North Korea and Syria, which have cooperated on missile technology, would have a joint venture in the nuclear arena. [Glenn Kessler, Washington Post]

This article has added more details, but I still haven’t seen anything that concretely proves the allegations.  If these allegations are true this would be the most serious incident between the US and North Korea ever.  The US government will not look kindly at nuclear proliferation.  Could North Korea really be this desperate or stupid?  I can’t wait to hear what excuses the South Korean government will make for Kim Jong-il if true. With that said I still remain skeptical. 

Updated postings over at One Free Korea and DPRK Studies as well.

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It looks like North Korea may be having a going out of business sale:

After days of silence from the Israeli government, American officials confirmed Tuesday that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes inside Syria last week, the first such attack since 2003.

A Defense Department official said Israeli jets had struck at least one target in northeastern Syria last Thursday, but the official said it was still unclear exactly what the jets hit and the extent of the bombing damage. [...]

One Bush administration official said Israel had recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea. The administration official said Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria.

“The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left,” the official said. He said it was unclear whether the Israeli strike had produced any evidence that might validate that belief.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a military action by another government. [Mark Mazzetti & Helene Cooper, New York Times] (HT: bohemian)

I have speculated before that North Korea would possibly give up its nuclear program for the right price, which is what we may now be seeing the beginning of, but I would be shocked if they gave up the handful of nuclear weapons they currently possess for a variety of reasons I have listed before. 

With that said I do have a hard time believing that Syria would be willing to buy nuclear equipment from North Korea and expect Israel to overlook it.  I think it is more likely conventional military weapons being sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon that was bombed.  You know the same weapons smuggling the UN sent forces into Lebanon to supposedly stop but have never bothered to do anything about it.  Either this report is false or Syria has been really emboldened by Hezbollah’s success in last years war. 

You can read more over at DPRK Studies and K.U. Studies as well.

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