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China-Japan-Koreas | |
U.S. to Clamp Down on Kim Jong-il's Slush Funds | |
2010-05-29 | |
Sanctions against North Korea by the U.S. government are expected to focus on Kim Jong-il's personal slush funds. The aim is to tighten the noose around Kim and the rest of the North Korean leadership rather than to increase pressure on the North Korean people, in a parallel with the 2005 freezing of what was apparently money for Kim's private use in the Banco Delta Asia in Macau.
Room 39 is expected to be the main target of the latest financial sanctions. It has 17 overseas offices, some 100 trading companies, a gold mine and its own bank. The $200 million to $300 million earned by subsidiary companies have gone straight into Kim's overseas bank accounts. The director of Room 39, Jon Il-chun, is expected to face financial sanctions as well. Kim appointed Jon after the former head, Kim Tong-un, was put on a blacklist of North Korean officials by the EU in December. The U.S. government may also freeze overseas bank accounts held by North Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau, which is believed to have orchestrated the attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March. But some experts say the U.S. may find it more difficult to apply financial pressure on North Korea because the North moved most of its money to accounts in China and Russia. | |
Posted by:Steve White |