RF Helps Pyongyang

from today's RFE/RL Newsline:

REPORT: RUSSIANS HELPED NORTH KOREA DEVELOP LONG-RANGE MISSILE

Russian specialists have helped North Korea build a sea-launched missile with a range of 2,500-4,000 kilometers, "Jane's Defence Weekly" reported on 4 August. The journal added that some essential components of the missile's launch system could have been salvaged from Soviet submarines that were sold for scrap, including some thatwere sold to North Korea by Japanese middlemen. The missile, which is based on the Soviet R-27 (NATO classification SS-N-6), can be launched either from a submarine or from a medium-sized surface vessel and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the journal reported. A land-based version is also reportedly ready for deployment. According to the magazine, specialists from a Russian defense contractor in the Chelyabinsk Oblast town of Miass helped Pyongyang develop the missile. The missile could pose a threat to U.S. territory, newsru.com and other Russian media reported, citing "Jane's Defence Weekly." RC