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The U.S. government on Wednesday turned up the heat on North Korea by warning U.S. financial institutions that North Korea may be looking for new money laundering channels after Washington blocked transactions with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia, allegedly Pyongyang¡¯s main funnel for gains from criminal activities. An advisory by the Treasury's Financial Crimes Division tells American financial institutions to ¡°take reasonable steps to guard against the abuse of their financial services by North Korea, which may be seeking to establish new or exploit existing account relationships for the purpose of conducting illicit activities." It calls on financial institutions worldwide to take similar precautions.
The U.S., pursuant to article 311 of the Patriot Act, designated the Macau bank as a money-laundering concern in September, claiming the bank has been used for laundering money that came from the circulation of counterfeit dollars and drug trafficking by the North.
North Korea says it will boycott six-party talks on its nuclear program until the sanctions are lifted.
"The Department of the Treasury is actively monitoring this situation and will take any further action as appropriate," the advisory added. It claims North Korea is engaged in illicit activities through government agencies or front companies and says the guidelines are designed to protect financial institutions from being used by North Korea to launder proceeds from alleged counterfeiting, drug trafficking, production and distribution of fake cigarettes and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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