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US Dispatches Treasury Official To Unfreeze N. Korea Funds (RTTNews) - The Bush administration in a desperate move to resuscitate the six-nation talks on dismantling N Korea's nuclear program, has said that it was dispatching a Treasury Department official to Beijing to help authorities accelerate the release of $25 million in frozen North Korea funds. Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, will head a delegation to China on Saturday to coordinate with authorities in Macau and China dealing with the frozen money held at Banco Delta Asia, a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau.

Iran sanctions concern China, Russia By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 9, 10:37 PM ET Russia raised concerns Friday about proposals to extend U.N. sanctions against Iran to its elite Revolutionary Guards, while China warned that reducing credit to the Islamic country could punish the Iranian people for their government's nuclear defiance. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, joined by Germany, met for the fourth time this week to narrow differences over new sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The proposals include a travel ban, an expanded list of people and companies...

N.Korea eyes 2nd test if dispute not resolved By Benjamin Kang Lim Wed Jan 31, 11:51 AM ET North Korea will feel compelled to announce plans for another nuclear test if a financial row with Washington is not settled, a source said on Wednesday as the latest talks wound up with no signs of a breakthrough. U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser, after meeting North Korean officials in Beijing on the financial dispute, described discussions as "painstaking." The U.S. Treasury has accused North Korea of using Macau's Banco Delta Asia to launder earnings from counterfeit U.S. dollars and drug...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Kim Jong-nam May Have Turned up in Macau -- Japanese Media (Tokyo = Yonhap news) Shin Jihong = A man who is possibly Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il, had turned up in Macau on Jan. 30, according to Japanese media on Jan. 31, quoting diplomatic sources The sources pointed out the possibility that his trip to Macau could be related to U.S.-N. Korea meeting on (N. Korean) finance which had started on the same day in Beijing, while N. Korean accounts totaling $24 million at a Macau bank, Banco...

January 2, 2007 West Tries a New Tack to Block Iran’s Nuclear Agenda By HELENE COOPER and STEVEN R. WEISMAN WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 — The United States and its allies in Europe, in a tacit acknowledgment that sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council in late December are too weak to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, have embarked on a new strategy to increase the financial and psychological pressure. The plan is to use the language of the resolution to help persuade foreign governments and financial institutions to cut ties with Iranian businesses, individuals in its nuclear...

US Wants to Block All of N. Korea's Financial Deals By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter A ranking U.S. official said in New York on Monday that the international community should ensure that all rogue states’ financial activities are stopped, whether they are ``seemingly legitimate or illicit.’’ Stuart Levey, the U.S. Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said that financial institutions must implement effective programs, including targeted financial sanctions, to combat threats from terrorist groups and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction such as North Korea. His remarks came as the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear programs set to...

Macao bank admits N Korea gold deals By Zach Coleman and Justine Lau in Hong Kong Published: December 10 2006 22:07 | Last updated: December 10 2006 22:07 A small Macao bank at the centre of a stand-off between North Korea and the US has said it played a bigger role in sustaining the secretive communist regime than previously admitted. North Korea has for a year held back from six-way talks on its nuclear programme in protest at the US Treasury Department’s labelling of Banco Delta Asia as a “primary money laundering concern.” About $25m in North Korea-linked accounts at...

North finds reinsurance a source of hard cash September 20, 2006 -- North Korea has filed claims with British and Russian reinsurance companies after four disasters in the North, and seeks millions of dollars in compensation, a source in Seoul said yesterday. His comments were confirmed by government officials. The sources said the claims were filed by Minjok Insurance General Company, and asked for payments related to two rail crashes and two other incidents. Reinsurers help policy-issuing insurance companies spread the risk involved in their policies to other insurance companies around the world. Companies buy "packages" composed of parts of...

/begin my excerpt N. Korean Special Train Reportedly Crossed Sino-N. Korean Border The government sources said that it has intelligence which says that N. Korean special train crossed Yalu River into China on Aug. 29. However, they cautioned that they are not certain Kim Jong-il is on board. /end my excerpt

AP: Banks said severing ties with NKorea By JEANNINE AVERSA 36 minutes ago The financial noose is tightening around North Korea as international banks sever ties with the nation — a move championed by the United States, a top Treasury Department official says. The United States has accused Pyongyang of spreading weapons and missile technology to other countries, counterfeiting U.S. currency and trafficking drugs. It wants to see the reclusive, communist-led regime financially incapacitated. "There is sort of a voluntary coalition of financial institutions saying that they don't want to handle this business anymore and that is causing financial isolation...

Vietnam already shut down N.K. accounts in past few weeks: ICG Seoul director WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- Vietnamese banks have already closed down North Korean accounts over the past few weeks, most likely forcing Pyongyang to move its money to its last remaining haven, Russia, said Peter Beck, head of the International Crisis Group's Seoul office, on Tuesday. Beck said Nigel Cowie, general manager of North Korea's Daedong Credit Bank in Pyongyang, e-mailed him last week and said Vietnamese banks have shut down Daedong's and other North Korea-held accounts. Daedong expected such a move by Vietnam after U.S. Treasury...

Korea-US Alliance Cracking By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korea finds itself increasingly at odds with the United States over how to deal with the adamant North Korea as Pyongyang adopts a more hardline policy in the face of growing pressures from the outside. North Korea’s missile tests on July 5 initially brought the allies to a united front. But there is now a widening rift over decisions regarding sanctions on North Korea since the United Nations Security Council resolution on July 15. Hardliners in Washington and Tokyo proposed stronger measures to tame the Stalinist North but President Roh Moo-hyun...

Seoul Fears U.S. Could Brand N.Korea a Financial Pariah Seoul is urgently studying its options in case Washington designates North Korea a “primary money-laundering concern” under its Patriot Act, a move that would create enormous difficulties for anyone doing business with the country and could deal a blow to growing inter-Korean trade. Government sources on Tuesday said Seoul is focused on the possibility that following the designation in December, 2002 of the Ukraine and the small Pacific island of Nauru as areas of "primary money-laundering concern," North Korea could be next in line for such a designation. (The designation of...

What Is the Difference Between ‘Gift’ and ‘Remembrance’ in North Korea? Only That Received from the Great Leader Is ‘Gift’ By Han Young Jin, Reporter, Defector from Pyongyang [ 2006-03-26 14:08 ] ▲ North Korean Children in School Uniform ⓒScene from North Korean TV On 23rd, Sankei Shinbun reported “North Korean government was not able to provide gifts for the people on Kim Jong Il’s birthday”. Some carefully speculate that it might be ‘the result of financial sanction by the United States.’ It was presumed that the order from North Korean central government, “this year, the gifts are to be...