Fade
10-02-2009, 11:59 AM
U.S. hits North Korea in the wallet
By Foster Klug, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's push to settle a tense nuclear standoff with North Korea is being spearheaded not by soldiers on a battlefield or big-name diplomats but by government officials knocking on the doors of banks throughout Asia.
The Democratic White House's effort borrows a page from George W. Bush's Republican playbook: Pyongyang unwilling to bend? Negotiating partners wary of tougher sanctions?
Then bypass messy international diplomacy and hit the North where it hurts: its foreign bank accounts.
American officials are travelling around Asia, targeting private banks that might have North Korean ties. They hope to block money that could be used for missiles and nuclear bombs and, ultimately, to drive North Korea back to stalled disarmament talks.
The strategy is simple, according to interviews with past and current U.S. officials responsible for implementing it. And, they say, it works, which has not been the case with tortuous nuclear negotiations with the North.
The officials tell bankers that North Korea uses its accounts to hide counterfeiting of U.S. currency, to launder money, to smuggle cigarettes and drugs. The banks could face potentially dire consequences if they were seen as helping illicit activities.
U.S. officials say bankers find their visits difficult to ignore.Article continued at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/10/01/11238986-ap.html
By Foster Klug, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's push to settle a tense nuclear standoff with North Korea is being spearheaded not by soldiers on a battlefield or big-name diplomats but by government officials knocking on the doors of banks throughout Asia.
The Democratic White House's effort borrows a page from George W. Bush's Republican playbook: Pyongyang unwilling to bend? Negotiating partners wary of tougher sanctions?
Then bypass messy international diplomacy and hit the North where it hurts: its foreign bank accounts.
American officials are travelling around Asia, targeting private banks that might have North Korean ties. They hope to block money that could be used for missiles and nuclear bombs and, ultimately, to drive North Korea back to stalled disarmament talks.
The strategy is simple, according to interviews with past and current U.S. officials responsible for implementing it. And, they say, it works, which has not been the case with tortuous nuclear negotiations with the North.
The officials tell bankers that North Korea uses its accounts to hide counterfeiting of U.S. currency, to launder money, to smuggle cigarettes and drugs. The banks could face potentially dire consequences if they were seen as helping illicit activities.
U.S. officials say bankers find their visits difficult to ignore.Article continued at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/10/01/11238986-ap.html