Australian police arrested a man accused of brokering missile deals for North Korea.
North Korea has sparked fears it could start World War 3 after a series of attempts to test ICBMs, which the rogue state claims can carry a nuclear warhead to the United States.
Chan Han Choi, 59, has been charged with brokering sales and discussing the supply of weapons on mass destruction.
Choi was acting as an economic agent for Kim Jong-un’s Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, according to the Australian Federal Police’s allegations.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan said: “This man was a loyal agent of North Korea, who believed he was acting to higher patriotic purpose.
“This case is lie nothing we have ever seen on Australian soil.”
Choi is a naturalised Australian citizen of Korean descent, according to Assistant Commissioner Gaughan.
The police official added Choi had communicated with high-ranking North Korean officials but no missile components had ever actually reached Australia.
Choi could face up to 18 years in prison if he is convicted of the six charges he faces, two under an act preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, two for contravening a UN sanction law and two for contravening Australia’s own Autonomous Sanction Law.
Australian police said the 59-year-old had been identified as a person of interest earlier this year, leaving the police to launch Operation BYAHAUT in response.
Assistant Commissioner Gaughan Said: “This is black market 101.
“We are alleging that all the activity occurred offshore and was purely another attempt for this man to trade goods and services as a way to raise revenue for the government of North Korea.”
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he had been briefed on the “very, very serious matter”.
Mr Turnbull said: “North Korea is a dangerous, reckless, criminal regime threatening the peace of the region.
“It supports itself by breaching U.N. sanctions, not simply by selling commodities like coal and other goods, but also by selling weapons, by selling drugs, by engaging in cybercrime.”
He added: “It is vitally important that all nations work relentlessly to enforce those sanctions because the more economic pressure that can be brought on North Korea, the sooner that regime will be brought to its senses.”