{"id":9564,"date":"2011-07-08T03:07:36","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T03:07:36","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-07-08T03:07:36","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T03:07:36","slug":"North-Korea-paid-for-Pakistani-nuclear-secrets-","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=9564","title":{"rendered":"North Korea paid for Pakistani nuclear secrets!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb program claims the North Korean government bribed top military officials in Pakistan to obtain access to sensitive nuclear technology in the late 1990s<\/strong>, The Washington Post reported.<\/p>\n

Abdul Qadeer Khan made available documents that he said supported his claim that he transferred more than $3 million in payments by North Korea to senior officers in the Pakistani military<\/strong>, the newspaper said on its website. Khan said the Pakistani military later approved his sharing of technical know-how and equipment with North Korean scientists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Khan also released what he said was a copy of a North Korean official’s 1998 letter to him, written in English, that purports to describe the secret deal, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n

Some Western intelligence officials and other experts have said that they think the letter is authentic. Pakistani officials have called the letter a fake. Khan, who has been hailed in his country as a national hero, is at odds with many Pakistani officials, who have said he acted alone in selling nuclear secrets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Post said the assertions by Khan and the details in the letter could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n

The letter Khan released is dated July 15, 1998, and marked “Secret,” the newspaper said. The “3 millions dollars have already been paid” to one Pakistani military official and “half a million dollars” and some jewelry had been given to a second official, the letter said. It carries the apparent signature of North Korean Workers Party Secretary Jon Byong Ho. The text also says: “Please give the agreed documents, components, etc. to a … (North Korean Embassy official in Pakistan) to be flown back when our plane returns after delivery of missile components.”<\/p>\n

Jehangir Karamat, a former Pakistani military chief named as the recipient of the $3 million, said the letter was untrue. In an e-mail to the newspaper from Lahore, Karamat said Khan, as part of his defense against allegations of personal responsibility for illicit nuclear proliferation, had tried “to shift blame on others.”<\/p>\n

The other official, retired Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Khan, called the letter “a fabrication.”<\/p>\n

The letter was provided to the Post by former British journalist Simon Henderson. The newspaper said it verified Henderson had obtained it from Khan.<\/p>\n

Henderson said he provided the letter to the Post because he lacked the resources to authenticate it himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

AFP<\/em>
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