A Chinese telecommunications company accused by the U.S. of being a
national security threat reportedly secretly helped North Korea build
its 3G wireless network -- even while the Hermit Kingdom was being
squeezed by tough international sanctions.modern picket fence designs
Huawei Technologies Co. worked with Chinese state-owned firm Panda
International to supply the Hermit Kingdom with antennas, stations and
other materials needed to launch Koryolink – its commercial wireless
network – in 2008, the Washington Post reported.
The newspaper, citing internal documents it obtained and conversations with people familiar with the matter, reported that Panda International had a contract with Huawei in which Panda would transport Huawei's telecom equipment to Dandong – a Chinese-North Korea border town – where it would then be placed on trains and delivered by rail to Pyongyang.
That agreement, the newspaper adds, came after then-leader Kim Jong Il secretly visited Huawei’s headquarters in China in 2006. The Washington Post reports that, for years, employees from both companies worked out of a cheap hotel near Kim Il Sung Square in the North Korean capital. Huawei, it added, also provided “managed service” of the network. And one current Huawei employee told the newspaper that he worked in 2012 and 2013 on Koryolink’s automated callback system.
Those familiar with the operations told the Washington Post both
companies left Pyongyang in 2016 as efforts increased to place harsher
international sanctions on North Korea due to its nuclear program and
human rights abuses.“Huawei is fully committed to comply with all
applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we
operate, including all export control and sanction laws and
regulations,” a spokesperson told the Washington Post.
The newspaper
reports Huawei could have been violating U.S. export controls by
maintaining a secret deal with North Korea and Panda International, as
the company has used American technology in its components.
