The US is pushing hard to slap strong financial sanctions on North Korea as part of UN punishments or even as independent measures for its latest nuclear test, news reports said yesterday.
Meanwhile, two US journalists were to stand trial at North Korea’s top court yesterday on charge of entering the country illegally and engaging in “hostile acts.” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch the trial would begin at 3pm.
Some experts believe North Korea is using the trial and its nuclear and missile tests to strengthen its position in possible talks with the US and that it hopes to win concessions or much-needed economic aid.
PHOTO: AP
US and South Korean authorities have confirmed that North Korea has kept producing high-quality fake US dollar bills, known as “supernotes,” and could use the counterfeiting as a reason for Washington’s own sanctions, Seoul’s Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified source in Washington.
The alleged counterfeiting was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting in Seoul between US and South Korean intelligence authorities, the report said. The US officials are believed to be part of an interagency delegation, led by US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.
The delegation has been on a trip to Japan, South Korea and China to discuss a joint response to Pyongyang’s May 25 nuclear blast.
Other officials include Stuart Levey, the US Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Levey was in charge of the US financial restrictions imposed on a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau in 2005 for allegedly helping North Korea launder money from counterfeiting and other illegal activities. The move led effectively to North Korea being cutoff from the international financial system as other institutions voluntarily severed their dealings with the bank and the nation.
Pyongyang got so angry over this that it stayed away from nuclear disarmament talks for more than a year. The deadlock was resolved when the US freed US$25 million in North Korean funds held at the Macau bank, a move that allowed Pyongyang back into the international banking system.
Levey was to meet with South Korean Vice Finance Minister Hur Kyung-wook later yesterday, Hur’s office said without elaborating.
Financial sanctions on North Korea will be a key topic at the meeting, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Curtailing North Korea’s financial dealings with the outside world is being considered as part of UN punishments, along with freezing company assets and enforcing an arms embargo, UN diplomats said.
But China and Russia, key allies of Pyongyang, have raised questions about some of the proposals, diplomats said on condition of anonymity because the consultations are private.
Meanwhile, North Korea released few details about the trial for the two US journalists, Laura Ling (凌志美) and Euna Lee, who worked for former US vice president Al Gore’s Current TV media venture. They were arrested on March 17 near the North Korean border while on a reporting trip to China. Conviction for “hostility” or espionage could mean five to 10 years in one of North Korea’s labor camps.
The trial came as North Korea pushed ahead with preparations to launch a long-range ballistic missile, believed capable of reaching the US. The missile was being assembled at a newly completed facility in Dongchang-ni near China, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported. Earlier reports said it could be ready for launch in a week or two.
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