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NORK counterfeiters back in business, via Singapore bank
From East Asia Intel, subscription. SEOUL North Korea is turning to a niche bank in Singapore as the conduit for financial transactions, including the circulation of U.S. $100 supernotes fresh off its Swiss-made printing press in Pyongyang. Press reports here and in Tokyo about North Korea's turn to Singapore spread as North Korea Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun visited Singapore immediately before and after a regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur in late July. North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, left, shakes hands with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Aug. 1, in Singapore. AP/Wong Maye-E Paek has reportedly visited Singapore twice, finalizing arrangements for use of the bank. North Korean officials have been in regular touch with the bank for years but decided to upgrade its role in their financial scheming after the U.S. Treasury Department banned dealings by U.S. companies with the Banco Delta Asia in Macao. Banco Delta Asia promptly froze North Korean accounts, creating enormous problems for North Korea, especially for ruler Kim Jong-Il, who reportedly used the bank for his personal financial dealings. North Korea's reliance on Singapore is nothing new. South Korean officials made a mysterious trip to Singapore prior to the historic June 2000 inter-Korean summit, when Kim Jong-Il received Kim Dae-Jung, then South Korea's president. The purpose of the visit was reportedly to transfer some of the $500 million later revealed as having been secretly given to North Korea as a payoff for the summit. South Korean officials vigorously denied the initial report of the transfer in the International Tribune, but much of the money was later revealed to have gone to Pyongyang through Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai group unit responsible for developing the Mount Kumgang tourist complex and the special economic zone at Kaesong. Hyundai Asan Chairman Chung Mong-Hun committed suicide in August 2003 as prosecutors zeroed in on his financial dealings. "They're hot on my trail, I'm outta here. The use of the Singapore bank for North Korean supernotes surfaced in reports in Yomiuri Shimbun, the huge Japanese national daily, and in Dong A Ilbo, a respected newspaper here that is often critical of South Korean government policy, particularly towards North Korea. DongA-Ilbo quoted a source in Washington as having said that North Korea had "attempted to change its bank to Singapore." The same source said "the new haven is known as a small bank referred to as O Bank" so far the only name that has emerged for the bank. "O Bank is a problem bank," the source told DongA-Ilbo, adding that the bank was "on the list of banks related to North Korea, which the U.S. government keeps a close eye on." The source confirmed that Singapore, as an international finance center, had become one of the "safe havens" for North Korea's money dealings. Paek reportedly spent two days in Singapore before arriving in Pyongyang on July 27 and then stopped off again for three days, from August 1 to 3, after the ASEAN regional forum. A South Korean official said the reason for the stopover was kidney dialysis an explanation that failed to explain where he received dialysis while spending most of his time in Pyongyang. Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-08-10 |
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