Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency intercepted in the past six months

   Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons programme were intercepted in the past six months.

  This was disclosed in a report by a panel of independent UN experts, which was submitted to the Security Council earlier in August.

  According to reports, it gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.

  The UN experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defence systems.

  The North Korean and Syrian missions to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

   North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches.