N Korea sent missile and chemical weapon items to Syria: UN report

North Korea has reportedly sent ballistic missile and chemical weapons components to Syria in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a draft of a new report authored by UN experts, report agencies.

According to the leaked 200-page report, expected to go public in mid-March, UN investigators say the items include acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers. More than 40 items were sent in five years from 2012-17.

North Korean missile technicians have also been spotted working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria, according to the report.

The US and other western nations have accused Syria of using chemical weapons in rebel-controlled areas, including recently in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, which Bashar Assad's government denies.

But the confidential report, compiled by a UN Panel of Experts which assesses North Korea's compliance with UN resolutions, found evidence of illicit supplies sent to Syria.

Seen by the BBC, the report details the "innovative evasion techniques" used by North Korea to send items such high-heat, acid-resistant tiles, corrosion-resistant valves and thermometers.

The Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) - a Syrian government agency - is alleged to have paid North Korea for the equipment via a number of front companies.

The SSRC is promoted by the Syrian government as a civilian research institute but a Western intelligence agency told the BBC last year that chemical weapons were being manufactured at three SSRC sites - Masyaf, in Hama province, and at Dummar and Barzeh, both just outside Damascus.

Barzeh was named in the UN report as one of the chemical weapons and missile facilities North Korean technicians had been seen operating at.

The Syrian government told the UN panel that the only North Koreans present in Syria are sports coaches and athletes.

Among the alleged shipments from North Korea to Syria, at least five were sent via a Chinese trading firm, Cheng Tong Trading Co Ltd, the UN report says.

The shipments allegedly contained acid-resistant tiles - which can be used for activities conducted at high temperatures - at a quantity that would cover the area of a large scale industrial project.

While the seized items "do not appear on any control lists", they included "materials that can be used to build bricks for the interior walls of [a] chemical factory", the report noted.