North Korea Tried to Sell Nuclear Material Online, UN Says

According to a recent United Nations report, North Korea tried to sell nuclear material online using a front company that has been caught selling other types of nuclear components to countries such as Iran and Syria in the past.

North Korea is known to be producing enriched lithium, known as lithium-6, that can be used to make tritium, which allows more powerful nuclear bombs to be produced with smaller amounts of plutonium or uranium, according to The Wall Street Journal.

It is not known whether the attempted sale by Green Pine Association Corp. was successful, UPI reported, but even the attempt to sell nuclear material has sparked concern in the Trump administration and in Congress that North Korea is supplying enemies of America and Israel with material they can use to make nuclear weaponss.

“Lithium-6 is ideal, not only for making tritium for boosting fission devices, but also for directly fueling advanced weapons—including thermonuclear bombs,” former Pentagon official and head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center Henry Sokolski said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

North Korea is known to have large stockpiles of lithium, UPI reported. It also tested five nuclear devices in recent months and its leaders have repeatedly threatened to use weapons of mass destruction against North Korea’s perceived enemies, including South Korea and the United States.

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