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U.S. Investigates State-Run Chinese Bank for Alleged Connections to Illicit North Korean Activities
The state-operated Bank of China and two Macau-based banks are under investigation for alleged links to North Korean syndicates producing narcotics, counterfeit U.S. currency and fake cigarettes to support Pyongyang’s nuclear program, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 8). Police in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are cooperating with U.S. authorities on the investigation, which has resulted in more than 80 arrests in recent weeks, according to the Journal. The investigation has focused on Zokwang Trading Co., a North Korean-run firm in Macau. Zokwang is also believed to have obtained parts for Pyongyang’s nuclear program, according to the Journal. The Bank of China would not respond to the charges. “We need to check into it and respond properly,” Wang Zhaowen, a Bank of China spokesman in Beijing told the Associated Press (Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 8). The two Macau-based banks yesterday denied the report, the South China Post reported. “Macau has no relations with North Korea. The only trace of any connection is that many years ago the North Korean government asked me to build a casino in its capital,” said casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun, who controls Seng Heng Bank. The bank was unaware of any investigation, according to its general manager. “We have no North Korean accounts. We have no business with any North Korean company. We have no knowledge of any investigation or that we are under any scrutiny,” said Robert McBain. Banco Delta Asia acknowledged relationships with North Korean banks and trading companies, but said it was “surprised by the allegation that it is the subject of a possible U.S. Treasury Department probe.” “Delta Asia complies strictly with anti-money-laundering and antiterrorism rules and regulations,” the bank said (Wong/Wan, South China Morning Post, Sept. 9). Meanwhile, North Korean officials told U.S. experts during a recent visit to Pyongyang that they would insist that North Korea’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy be included in any statement of principles in the ongoing nuclear negotiations, the Washington Post reported today. Retired Stanford University Professor John Lewis and retired Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Siegfried Hecker briefed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on their visit yesterday, according to the Post. South Korea, China and Russia have supported the North Korean position on nuclear energy to varying degrees, while Japan and the United States have taken the harder line, said former State Department Korea expert Jack Pritchard, who accompanied the two experts. “The North Koreans saw a chink in the armor,” he said. “They have concluded this is a winning argument” (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Sept. 9). Tokyo and Washington have set three conditions for agreeing to allow North Korea to pursue a nuclear energy program when talks resume next week, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today. The two allies will demand that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, temporarily abandon all nuclear programs and regain the trust of the international community, diplomats said (Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri, Sept. 9). Washington, however, announced that it remained firm in its position that North Korea must give up its nuclear energy program, Bloomberg reported. “We haven’t changed our position,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday. “Our position is that North Korea needs to dismantle its nuclear programs, and that’s what the topic of this negotiation is” (Bloomberg, Sept. 9). Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev said he was optimistic about the next round of talks, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. “We see that there is real agreement on most of the points of a joint statement that is to set out the common objectives and principles of the six-nation talks,” Alexeyev was quoted as saying by Interfax. “This shows that the positions of the parties have never been as close since the start of the talks,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 8). Japan also expressed optimism about the talks, but said it would continue to pursue its dispute with Pyongyang regarding Cold War-era abductions of Japanese nationals, AFP reported yesterday. “We will keep pressing. We would like to make progress as much as we can by holding talks between Japan and North Korea,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda (Agence France-Presse II/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 8).
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