[USFK Forums] US Has Substantial Evidence of NK Money Laundering [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Friday, March 3, 2006

US Has Substantial Evidence of NK Money Laundering

The Korea Times

Thursday, March 2, 2006
By Park Song-wu, Staff Reporter

The U.S. State Department said in a report on Wednesday that it has ``substantial'' evidence of the North Korean government's laundering of proceeds from illegal activities such as narcotic trafficking.

It is the first time the annual U.S. report, ``International Narcotics Control Strategy Report,'' describes its evidence of Pyongyang's alleged financial illegalities as substantial.

The report comes as the United States and North Korea prepare to have a meeting in New York on March 7 over Pyongyang's alleged counterfeiting of U.S. bills and laundering them at a bank in Macau.

According to the 2006 edition of the report, substantial evidence exists that North Korean governmental entities and officials have laundered the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting and other illegal activities.

The report said a network of North Korean front companies have used financial institutions overseas, such as Banco Delta Asia in Macau, for their illicit financial operations.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon indicated in a weekly press briefing in Seoul on Thursday that the report has nothing new as it was a ``summing-up'' of all information that has been available to the public until now.

The North has flatly denied U.S. allegations that it produced bogus U.S. bills. On Wednesday, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman argued that Pyongyang is rather a victim of counterfeit currencies.

The North's Korean Central News Agency quoted the spokesman as saying it is groundless for the United States to say that faked banknotes ``that can be mixed in with cash transfers'' are produced in and distributed by North Korea.

But a foreign ministry official in Seoul said in a Web message on a government-run news portal that he thinks the North Korean spokesman's remarks were designed to strengthen Pyongyang's stance on the controversial issue in the run-up to an important meeting in the United States next week.

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to brief North Korean official, Ri Gun, in New York on March 7 on why it imposed financial restrictions on the bank in Macau.

Ri is director-general of the Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau and the North's deputy envoy to the six-party nuclear talks.

Last September, Washington enforced restrictions on the bank for its suspicious financial services to North Korea for over 20 years. Consequently, the bank cut its services to North Korea.

Interpreting the U.S. action as an attempt to stifle the Pyongyang regime, North Korea declared in November it would not return to the six-party talks unless Washington lifted the financial sanctions.

Meanwhile, the State Department document maintained its view of North Korea as a possible sponsor of criminal activities, such as narcotics trafficking.

It is ``likely, but not certain'' that the North Korean government sponsors criminal activities, including narcotics production and trafficking, in order to earn foreign currency for the state and its leaders, the report said.

Even though there have been no public reports this year of specific incidents of narcotics trafficking with demonstrable links to North Korea, the State Department made that conclusion due to developments in 2005, which linked North Korea to other forms of state-directed criminality, the report said.

Indictments in the United States issued in 2005 and the ongoing work of several corporate investigative teams have provided compelling evidence of North Korean involvement in trademark violations, including trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes and Viagra, the report said.


im@koreatimes.co.kr

03-02-2006 17:45