NTI - Global Security Newswire, 28 Jul 2008.

A South Korean businessman accused of shipping contraband equipment to North Korea today pleaded guilty in a Japanese court, Reuters reported

Chon Rin Chae, who ran a Japanese trading company, admitted to selling Pyongyang two tanker trucks capable of transporting missiles and serving as launchpads.

South Korean officials blocked the shipment last year and traced it back to Chon, who was arrested in May. At the time of the arrest, Japanese police said the transfer of such dual-use equipment to the nuclear-armed North amounted to "a threat to international peace."

Japan has since embargoed all trade with North Korea following its recent nuclear and missile tests. Prosecutors are reportedly pursuing a three-year sentence

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