A report submitted by the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea sanctions to the UN Security Council on 8 February detailed many instances of illegal activity by North Korea that give cause for concern. The activity that sparked the most headlines, regarding resumed missile cooperation with Iran, lends itself to alarmism but also offers further reasons to negotiate with Iran over its missile programme.

In headlining the report, an Israeli TV station said Iran and North Korea ‘cooperate on ICBM development’. The Voice of America built an entire article around claims by a hawkish American professor that the purpose of the cooperation is to secure a capacity to simultaneously strike the United States from east and west, so as to overwhelm missile defences. 

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Read the rest of the blog post at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.