Posted on 02/02/2006 7:10:51 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
South Korean bank joins US sanctions against North Korea
27 minutes ago
Korea Exchange Bank, controlled by US equity fund Lone Star, has terminated all transactions with Banco Delta Asia, accused by Washington of laundering money for North Korea.
The bank is the first South Korean financial institution to join US-imposed sanctions against the Macau-based bank.
"We terminated all transactions with the Banco Delta, including remittance and foreign exchange dealings, on Wednesday" a bank spokeswoman told AFP.
The decision was made to protect the interests of clients and the bank, she said.
"This is a voluntary decision and there were absolutely no orders from the South Korean financial authorities or Lone Star," she said.
The US Treasury in September labelled Banco Delta Asia a "primary money laundering concern" and blacklisted eight North Korean companies in connection with the bank, saying they were involved in spreading weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea pockets up to one billion dollars a year from counterfeiting US greenbacks, trafficking illicit narcotics, smuggling contraband cigarettes and even peddling fake sexual aid drugs for men, according to the US government.
North Korea has refused to return to six-party nuclear talks unless the United States lifts the sanctions imposed over the communist state's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering activities.
The talks, involving the United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia, are aimed at disarming North Korea's nuclear weapons in return for diplomatic, security and energy aid guarantees to the impoverished nation.
But President George W. Bush said that the United States would not compromise on the financial sanctions to resolve the nuclear stand-off.
China may have been trying to frame the N. Korean nuclear crisis as the choice between Taiwan and N. Korea for U.S.. Now U.S. could be framing it in a different way: the choice between siding with N. Korea or keeping ill-gotten personal stashes and Beijing Olympics while warding off sanctions on Chinese financial sector.
Bush seems to go about it off the radar screen in a real quiet way.
At the minimum, China would want to come out vastly increasing its hold on N. Korea economically. While accommodating Kim Jong-il's intransigence, it is exacting a price from it. China is now taking steps to integrate N. Korean economy into it. According to some reports, it took over economic control of Shinuiju, one-time set aside for N. Korean special economic zone. China basically killed it at the time. Now it took over the place. China also wants the exclusive right to develop oil-reserve suspected to be in a N. Korean shore adjoining China's Bohai Bay oil field. Chinese would probably go for the sea-access to the East Sea thought N.E. corner of N. Korea. That way, E. Manchuria does not need to depend on Yellow sea ports thousands miles away for its trade. Second, PLAN can now has a strategic presence in the East Sea, which would allow them to better counter U.S. and Japanese naval presence.
Ping!
North Korea might help them in that regard. Its troublemaking potential through its nuclear programs is being eclipsed by Iran and it really doesn't have much else to offer. But any oil found off Korea will take years to exploit, and Iran is pounding the drum now.
So when does the publicity-starved Kim get impatient and pop off a nuke of his own, if he even really has one? And what happens when he does? This could get interesting very fast.
In my opinion, N. Korea could pop off a nuke when U.S. gets to make prohibitively expensive the price of China propping up N. Korea. However, China could then turn against N. Korea. N. Korean nuke test could do as much damage to Chinese economy as blocked oil supply from Mid-East, because Korean Peninsula would suddenly turn into an imminent war zone. In the recent photos, Kim Jong-il looks haggard. The U.S. pressure has taken the toll.
As you said, Iran and N. Korean problem are not separate. Both countries coordinate their moves to stretch out U.S. resources. If one goes down, the other could follow in a short order. Year 2006 would be an interesting time.
Thanks for the link. I will look it up. What you said tends to match What I heard about N. Korea's Macao operation in S. Korea. The difference, I gather, would be details on the extent of Chinese complicity. I suspect that China also has a lot to answer for.
It's pretty old news North Korea has used Macau to put counterfeit US currency into international market (read this on the Chinese edition of Reader's Digest in December 1994), but it is shocking to read that the assination attempt on Chun Doo-hwan in Rangoon in 1983 and the KE 858 sabotage in 1987 were both coordinated in Macau. And in both cases, the National Security Bureau in Beijing must have known in advance and with Macau as a "semi-liberated zone" both incidents can't happen without China's permission.
Fascinating. Macau is indeed a strange and creepy place.
What happen somebody found out Chia Pet was doing direct to Deposit on Horse trade
We won't need nukes to do it. Precision-guided munitions and pressure-activated sea mines can in a week irretrievably wreck what little transportation infrastructure NK has left. The place just has too many mountains and rivers.
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