WASHINGTON 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 for the government of North Korea," Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "They don't want to be the banker for someone who's engaged in crime, as the North Korean government is," he said.
Banks in Singapore, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Mongolia are opting not to do business with North Korea, Levey said. "Is there a complete cutoff, so that they can't get banking anywhere? No, that's not the case, but they're having a very difficult time finding banking services," he said. "You're seeing a near complete isolation." Ignoring warnings from the United States and other countries, North Korea test-fired seven missiles last month, raising tensions in the region. The United States is considering tightening economic sanctions against North Korea, although Levey avoided specifics.
Last year, the Treasury department took action against a bank, Banco Delta Asia SARL, in Macau, a special administrative district of China, for what it said were lax money-laundering controls, alleging the bank helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. The department also has moved against other companies, claiming they were helping North Korea spread weapons of mass destruction. Because of the financial clampdown, North Korea has refused to resume six-nation talks meant to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Some analysts worry that the financial restrictions are only deepening the North's isolation. This, they argue, has allowed North Korea to push ahead with its weapons programs. North Korea accused the United States of tracing North Korean accounts in banks in at least 10 countries and called this "a gangster-like act." |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Wednesday it would return to nuclear disarmament talks in an effort to get access to frozen overseas bank accounts, a vital source of hard currency for the impoverished and isolated communist nation.