North Korea Wants Its Drug Money Back
[Update: A senior Korean official suggests that the U.S. will do just that right after the talks resume. Scroll down.]
[Update 2: The Washington Post post also suspects that North Korea’s announcement is merely an effort to foil the American economic pressure:
We hope Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, who conducted lengthy talks with his North Korean counterpart in recent days, is justified in expecting “substantial progress” from the new round. But history suggests that both North Korea and China may have achieved their objectives simply by making yesterday’s announcement. Pyongyang no doubt expects that its attendance will result in the relaxation of whatever pressure China has applied and that South Korea will now hesitate to cut back on its own substantial subsidies. (ht China-e-Lobby)]
[Update 3: In related news, OJ has asked for his hat and gloves back.]
Original Post: You can’t fault their chutzpah:
Confirming U.S. and Chinese reports of the agreement Tuesday, the North’s Foreign Ministry said Pyongyang decided to return to the arms talks “on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the (North) and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks.”
….U.S. officials also sought to rally other countries to prevent the North from doing business abroad, saying all transactions involving Pyongyang were suspected of being involved in counterfeiting and money laundering.
The Macau ban is believed to have blocked the North’s access to some US$24 million (euro18.9 million), and is thought to have hit the country’s leadership in particular, who indulge in luxury goods like cognac and fine wines while the vast majority of North Koreans live in poverty.
If they think unblocking these more-or-less ill-gotten gains will cure what ails them, they either haven’t read Resolution 1718, or else they expect China to let them smuggle in weapons and expensive French booze. And yes, I think the Chinese would be quite willing to let them do it.
The real tragedy would be an American failure to make counterfeiting and drug production into test cases for CVID. If we’re given the opportunity to visit Printing House 62 in Pyongsong; haul away the presses, plates, and ink; and satisfy ourselves that we’ve shut down the source of the Supernotes completely and verifiably, then we can have some realistic expectation that one day, we’ll be able to do the same with their nukes. It would be reasonable, if not fair, for the North Koreans to want something in return. You can buy a lot of food and medicine for $24 million.
“Once the six-party talks (on North Korea’s nuclear programs) resume, the U.S. Treasury Department will conclude whether to define the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) as a main conduit for money laundering,” Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in a government audit session. “With the decision, the question of unfreezing the accounts or confiscating the North’s money will hinge on the judgement of the Chinese government.”