WP: Huawei secretly helped North Korea with 3G networks

Chinese tech giant Huawei, whose blacklisting by the United States was one of the most important episodes in the country's trade war with China, has cooperated with North Korean authorities for at least eight years. Huawei has implemented several projects in the country, including helping to develop a 3G network, according to The Washington Post. The company denies working in North Korea.

Work on the network was carried out secretly: using front companies and classified documents. Thus, Huawei, using American technology in the development of components, could violate US export control requirements: eleven years ago, the American side imposed sanctions against the DPRK, the main purpose of which was to force the DPRK to give up nuclear weapons

Quote. “Huawei fully complies with all regulations and laws in the countries and regions of its presence, including export control requirements and amendments in connection with the UN, US and EU sanctions lists,” the company said in an official statement.

Details. Until 2008, North Korea could not find a partner among international companies that could help develop its own 3G network. Two years earlier, Kim Jong Il traveled to the headquarters of Huawei in Shenzhen, China. As a result, the Chinese tech giant created a joint venture between CHEO Technology and the then-Egyptian company Orascom Telecom and the Korean State Telecommunications Corporation. Together they created the Koryolink wireless network provider and began developing the 3G network.

• Huawei created the necessary infrastructure and software in Korea, and was also responsible for expanding coverage, follows from the documentation. The tech giant imported into the country equipment such as network stations and antennas, the components of which could be developed using American technology. After the completion of the work, the Chinese company was responsible for maintaining the functioning of the wireless network.
• To classify work in North Korea, instead of the name of the country, Huawei used a special code in the documentation - A9. Iran and Syria have the same ones, says one of the former employees of the company.
• In an attempt to protect itself, Huawei conducted its main operations with the DPRK through the shell company Panda. The Chinese firm's website says it has been partnering with the Chinese tech giant since 2007, almost since the founding of North Korea's Koryolink wireless network. The Panda number listed on the site is linked to the Chinese WeChat account of a group that sells Huawei products. The reporter of the publication also went to the address of the company's headquarters indicated on the website, but upon arrival he found an empty office located in the same building with a club and a karaoke bar in the basement.
• It follows from the documents that during the development of the North Korean wireless network, Huawei collaborated with the Chinese company Dandong Kehua, which has been on the US sanctions list since 2017 for illegally importing and exporting goods from North Korea.
• “All this only confirms our concerns about the corporate responsibility of companies like Huawei, which cannot be trusted because of the numerous incidents associated with it, which indicate its willingness to evade or directly violate the laws,” said a US official source. When it seems like US-China and US-North Korea relations just can't get any worse, it turns out that China and North Korea are working together to create a potentially vulnerable technology, adds Evans Revere, a former US State Department official.

To learn more.

• It is not yet clear whether the US government was aware of the company's cooperation with North Korea. In early July, the conflict between the American side and the Chinese tech giant gradually turned into a peaceful course. So, Reuters wrote that Huawei is waiting for permission from US regulators to use Android on new smartphones. At the same time, after the meeting of US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20, the US significantly eased sanctions against Huawei, making it easier for it to work with US companies. Only one ban remained in force - on the purchase by American telecommunications companies of equipment that poses a threat to national security, wrote . the Financial Times
• Shortly before this, the company estimated losses due to US sanctions at $30 billion over the next two years and 40% of foreign sales of smartphones.
• We wrote in detail about the causes of Huawei's troubles in the US here , about the history of the company and the personality of Ren Zhengfei - here .