YAMAGUCHI, Japan, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A South Korean man has been charged with arranging the illegal export of a freeze dryer to North Korea, which could use it for biological weapons research.
Kim Young Gun, former president of Meisho Yoko, a Tokyo trading firm, was arrested in Japan, Kyodo News Service reported.
Kim told investigators he believes the freeze dryer was destined for a clinic in Ponghwa, where North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and top members of the Workers Party of Korea get medical treatment. But the clinic is also believed to be a center for military biological research.
Freeze dryers are mostly used in the manufacture of instant coffee and noodles. But they can also be used to grow bacteria cultures.
Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law regulates the export of the dryers because of their potential for use in biological warfare research.
Investigators say Gun circumvented the permission of the Minister of Trade required by the law by ordering the dryer through a Taiwan business.
