Category: NK Crime

Second N. Korean Disqualified for Doping

Earlier, I reported that North Korean pistol-shooter Kim Jong-Su had been stripped of two medals,  one silver and  one bronze, for doping.  The banned drugs Kim took were beta-blockers, which suppress anxiety that  can make a shooter jittery.  Now, a second North Korean shooter, Kim Hyon-Ung, has been disqualified: “Kim Hyon-Ung was barred from participating in the Games after it became known belatedly that he failed a doping test carried out during the Asian championships,” the official said. “North Korean...

China Steps Up Efforts to Undermine U.S. and U.N. Sanctions Against N. Korea

The single most important provision of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, for which China cast a disingenuous “yes” vote, is the provision that requires member states to “ensure” that funds flowing into North Korea are not used for its WMD programs. Similarly, Resolution 1695 requires states to “exercise vigilance” against efforts to fund U.N. sanctions. Now, in the wake of U.S. Treasury sanctions that have put the North Korean regime under unprecedented pressure to meet its disarmament obligations, China is...

Treasury: North Korea Still Counterfeiting, Still a Financial Pariah

The State Department and Bill Richardson  may harbor illusions to the contrary, but Stuart Levey, Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence may be only man in Washington with real influence  over Pyongyang.  Yesterday, Levey  appeared before the Senate Finance Committee to testify.  A reader (thank you) forwarded me a copy of his testimony, and I excerpt the North Korea portion for you here.  The key points  here are that (a) North Korea continues to be an international financial...