| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| NORKS now channeling overseas cash via Austria after U.S. sanctions on Macau bank |
| 2005-12-26 |
| From East Asia Intel, subscription. North Korea is using a bank in Austria for international financial transactions after Washington imposed sanctions on a bank in Macau, South Korean government sources said. Our staunch ally, Austria. North Korea recently asked Hyundai Asan, the South Korean company that manages an inter-Korean joint tourism project in the North Korean Mount Kumgang resort to transmit sightseeing fees to a bank in Austria instead of Banco Delta Asia in Macau, they said. Since the Macau bank was no longer accepting transactions. Hyundai Asan officials acknowledged they were wiring money to North Korea through an Austrian bank, but refused to identify the bank saying out of "respect" to their business partners. The Mount Kumgang tourism program, which Hyundai Asan launched in 1998, has served as a major cash cow for the impoverished regime in Pyongyang. Out of respect, hell. Afraid of sanctions on that bank. Under an initial contract, Hyundai Asan was to send $942 million to North Korea by early 2005 in tourism fees. Hyundai has sent only $400 million so far due to a shortage of tourists. Heh. Currently, the South Korean company is sending an average of $1 million to the North in monthly tourism fees or $70 for each tourist who takes the three-day trip. What a trip, maybe a neat place to ring in the new year. Book a trip on line. U.S. financial institutions suspended transactions with Banco Delta Asia in September after the Bush administration accused the bank of distributing counterfeit U.S. dollars printed in North Korea. One way to get on the US SH*T List Banco Delta Asia has denied the allegations, saying its relationships with North Korean clients were legitimate and purely commercial. But the bank has cut off transactions, causing reported cash flow problems for the communist state. Make the Chicoms foot the bill and all the hassles for the NORKS. Intelligence sources in Seoul said North Korea used the Macau bank as its main channel for private financial transactions for leader Kim Jong-Il. Banco Delta Asia provided financial services to North Korean government agencies and their front companies for more than 20 years, they said. Stepping up pressure on North Korea, the U.S. Treasury Department warned the U.S. banking sector that North Korea "may be seeking banking services elsewhere" following the determination that Banco Delta Asia was a "primary money laundering concern." [...snip...] North Korea "may be seeking" to establish new or exploit existing account relationships for the purpose of conducting illicit activities, such as counterfeiting. Ya think? North Korea has maintained overseas bank accounts mainly for laundering money and raising slush funds for Kim's family in Switzerland, Austria, Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and others, according to South Korean intelligence sources. The sources quoted the CIA as estimating Kim's wealth at $4.3 billion, part of which is deposited in bank accounts in Switzerland. Ah, yes, Switzerland. The neutral country, keeping good company in clients for so many years. Kim has used the money to buy luxury items, such as Swiss watches for his loyalists. Kim has employed his unique ruling technique by using âgift politicsâ to win the loyalty of core groups. The Northâs ruling Workers' Party runs "Office No. 38" to managed Kim's private funds, according to intelligence sources in Seoul. "Office No. 39" is in charge of earning hard currency through illegal means such as narcotics and counterfeit currency trafficking, the sources said. Office 39 needs a MOAB. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #2 boy, those Austrians are sure morally superior to Gov. Schwarzenegger, huh? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-26 20:06 |
| #1 Just trying to get closer to Kimmie's source of Hennessy VSOP and hookers. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-12-26 19:48 |