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Nuclear North Korea: 6 ways it differs from Iran

Are there lessons from the recently negotiated agreement to scale down Iran's nuclear program that can be used in North Korea? Perhaps, but the two differ substantially. Some questions  – and answers – on the North Korean and Iranian programs:

4. How much do North Korea and Iran cooperate on producing missiles and nuclear components?

Vahid Salemi/AP/File
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, shakes hands with then-president of the Presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong-nam, during a welcoming ceremony in Tehran, Iran, September, 2012.

  • By Donald Kirk Correspondent

Former President George W. Bush described North Korea and Iran in 2002 as members of an “axis of evil.” (Iraq was the third). One inference was that the two were cooperating on nuclear and missile programs. North Korea is known to have exported missiles to Iran and also to have provided it with nuclear technology. North Korea may also have obtained centrifuges from Iran for producing highly enriched uranium. This type of cooperation is believed to have waned as a result of international sanctions. 

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