Putin says he knew about the existence of nuclear bomb in North Korea for a long time
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kim Jong-Il had already told him about the North Korean nuclear bomb in early 2000, and that the situation had not changed in the ten-year existence of the country under Western sanctions, TASS news agency reported.
"In 2001, when I was on my way to pay a visit to Japan, I made a stop in North Korea, where I had a meeting with the father of the country’s current leader. It was back then when he told me that they had a nuclear bomb. Moreover, (the South Korean capital of) Seoul was within the hitting range of their standard artillery systems at that time. When was that? In 2001! It is 2017 already, the country has been living under permanent sanctions, and instead of a nuclear bomb they have now a hydrogen bomb," Putin said while speaking at Russian Energy Week.
At least eight North Korean tankers with fuel that left Russia this year went to their homeland and announced other places of assignment.
All tankers were loaded with diesel fuel, a source in the company servicing the vessel in Vladivostok said. Their carrying capacity ranged from 500 to 2000 tons. One of these tankers was the North Korean Ma Du San. At Terminal One, which is owned by the Russian Independent Oil and Gas Company (IPC), 545 tons of marine fuel was loaded onto the Ma Du San. It is indicated in the bill of lading that the fuel that was loaded onto the Ma Du San was received from the Khabarovsk refinery, which is owned by the IPC.