Man Accused of Trying to Sell Missile Parts for North Korea Arrested in Australia

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan speaks to the media about a North Korean agent in Sydney on December 17, 2017.

PETER PARKSPETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan speaks to the media about a North Korean agent in Sydney on December 17, 2017. PETER PARKSPETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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Man Accused of Trying to Sell Missile Parts for North Korea Arrested in Australia

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan speaks to the media about a North Korean agent in Sydney on December 17, 2017.

PETER PARKSPETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan speaks to the media about a North Korean agent in Sydney on December 17, 2017. PETER PARKSPETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A South Korean-born Sydney man was charged Sunday in Australia by allegedly attempting to make sales worth tens of millions of dollars for North Korea that included coal and components used in ballistic missiles.

These are the first charges ever brought in Australia over the sale of weapons of mass destruction.

The man had been charged with two counts under an act preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Australian police said, and with another four under legislation enforcing United Nations and Australian sanctions against North Korea, Reuters reported.

Chan Han Choi, 59, had been living in Australia for more than 30 years, used encrypted communication to broker sales, according to police.

He was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood on Saturday and was due to face court later on Sunday, police said. He came to the attention of authorities earlier this year, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said.

“This man was a loyal agent of North Korea, who believed he was acting to serve some higher patriotic purpose,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters.

“This case is like nothing we have ever seen on Australian soil,” he said.

Gaughan stated Choi had been in touch with high-ranking North Korean officials but no missile components ever made it to Australia.

There have been high tensions recently on the Korean peninsula because of the ballistic missile launched by the North, in addition to the joint military drills between South Korea and the US which the North says they are as "preparation for war."

"Pyongyang claimed that its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November had the range to reach all of the United States", reported Reuters.

“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,” Gaughan said.

The man who did not apply for bail and will next face court on Wednesday, could face up to 18 years in jail if convicted.



Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
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Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos would serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, met repeatedly with Arab American and Muslim leaders during the election campaign, Reuters reported.

It was the second time in recent days that Trump chose the father-in-law of one of his children to serve in his administration.

On Saturday, Trump said that he had picked his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, real estate mogul Charles Kushner, to serve as US ambassador to France.

In recent months, Boulos campaigned for Trump to drum up Lebanese and Arab American support, even as the US-backed Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Boulos has powerful roots in both countries.

His father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.

His son Michael and Tiffany Trump were married in an elaborate ceremony at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago Club in November 2022, after getting engaged in the White House Rose Garden during Trump's first term.

Boulos has been in touch with interlocutors across Lebanon's multipolar political world, three sources who spoke to him in recent months say, a rare feat in Lebanon, where decades-old rivalries between factions run deep.

Boulos is a friend of Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian ally of Hezbollah and its candidate for Lebanon's presidency. He is also in touch with the Lebanese Forces Party, a vehemently anti-Hezbollah Christian faction, the sources say, and has ties to independent lawmakers.