The recent Washington Post report on Damascus-Pyongyang atomic ties sheds light on the relationship between North Korea and Syria and the possible nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

During the '90s and following a deal signed with the Clinton administration, Pyongyang agreed not to further develop its nuclear program for military purposes, and received in return a joint pledge by the U.S., Japan and South Korea to provide it with fuel until electricity-generating power plants funded by the three were built.

The accord, however, did not last and a new crisis developed in 2000 when it was revealed that North Korea had continued to secretly produce plutonium. In response, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, removed camera surveillance from its reactor and stopped cooperating with inspectors. It then emerged that North Korea had most probably accumulated dozens of kilograms of plutonium, which by U.S. intelligence estimates would allow her to produce six atom bombs, a figure it later placed at ten.