I’ve been doing a lot of work lately on state-to-state nuclear cooperation — especially the connection between Pakistan and North Korea.
I recently reread Bamboo and Blood, by James Church (a pseudonym for one of the most distinguished North Korea watchers in the US). Although Bamboo and Blood is a work of fiction, and Church permits himself some artistic license, it is also a pretty decent introduction to North Korea’s illicit activities in the 1990s.
I was hoping to pick up some hints hear or there, but I was hit over the head with the main plot point: Church’s description of the Israeli effort in the 1990s to bribe Pyongyang to stop selling missiles in the Middle East.
I was mulling writing something on that period, when a colleague sent me a copy of Israel and North Korea: Missing the Real Story, a compressed account of the Israeli effort by Aidan Foster-Carter. It is such an artful and perfect introduction to the issue that I despair of writing anything better. Have a look for yourself.