N.Korea 'Supplies Arms to Terrorists'

North Korea continues to give military assistance to terrorist organizations around the world under new leader Kim Jong-un, an American academic claimed Wednesday.

At a seminar at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Prof. Bruce Bechtol of Angelo State University, a former analyst at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, said its Cold-War network allows the North to keep supplying weaponry to several countries and terrorist organizations.

He named Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Somalia's al-Shabab, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and al-Qaeda.

If his claims can be substantiated, they could prompt the U.S. to relist the North as a "state sponsor of terrorism."

Bechtol said the North's support for terrorist organizations includes arms sales, training and construction support. Such support continues under new leader Kim Jong-un because it is one of the few remaining avenues for the regime to earn hard currency, he added.

He claimed the North has been providing Syria with weaponry.

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