[USFK Forums] U.S. Punishes Swiss Firm for N.Korea Connection [Chosun]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, April 1, 2006

U.S. Punishes Swiss Firm for N.Korea Connection

The Chosun Ilbo: Updated Mar.31,2006 18:50 KST

The U.S. has frozen the assets of a Swiss company it accuses of aiding North Korea in alleged “proliferation” of nuclear weapons technology. Washington on Thursday froze the accounts of Kohas AG and its president Jakob Striger. The measure, taken by executive decree, is based on a charge that Kohas had dealings with a North Korean company whose assets were frozen last year, Korea Ryonbong General Corp.

This is the second time Washington has made good a threat to punish companies from third countries for their alleged involvement in a range of crimes the North is accused of. Last September, it banned all U.S. firms from transacting with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia in an effort to strangle the North’s cash flow.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has slammed China for repatriating a North Korean refugee using the pseudonym Kim Chun-hee. In an unusual move, the statement issued Thursday by President George W. Bush’s staff from Cancun, Mexico reminded China of its obligation under international treaties not to return North Korean asylum-seekers without allowing them access to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.

Washington’s special envoy on human rights in North Korea, Jay Lefkowitz, earlier promised this year would be a “turning point” in the U.S.’s own failure to grant asylum to a single North Korean refugee, saying “discussions are underway” to see if any can be admitted.

On Thursday, Lefkowitz criticized the joint Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, where he said North Korean laborers work without guaranteed rights for less than US$2 a day. He suggested an independent organization like the International Labor Organization should inspect the complex and report its findings to the UN.

A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Lee Gwan-se, protested against the remarks on Friday. “The lowest monthly paycheck for laborers of the industrial complex stands at US$57.5 or around $2 a day, but that figure is far higher than what ordinary North Korean workers in other regions are paid,” Lee said. He added working conditions in the Kaesong complex are in line with ILO standards.



url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...603310009.html