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The U.S. looks likely to impose additional sanctions against North Korea after strangling transactions with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia, which it accuses of being Pyongyang¡¯s primary money laundering concern. White House spokesman Scott McClellan last week said the U.S. will ¡°continue to take measures¡± to stop the North from engaging in illegal activities. South Korean officials, meanwhile, are not denying a New York Times article that said the Bush administration is pleased with the effect of the financial sanctions and efforts to promote its Proliferation Security Initiative and is thinking of more measures along the same lines.
Experts say the U.S. could move against other banks it suspects of moving North Korea¡¯s gains from a range of criminal activities including currency forgery the U.S. accuses it of conducting. Samsung Economic Research Institute researcher Dong Yong-seung says Washington does not regard sanctions imposed on the Macau bank as punishment. ¡°It is likely the U.S. would start taking measures against many other banks that do business with the North,¡± he said. That could chiefly target Chinese banks, many of which do business with Pyongyang. Prof. Yoo Ho-yeol of Korea University says it is likely that the U.S. will try to stop countries trading with the North by way of such measures. They could specifically target countries suspected of facilitating North Korea¡¯s trade in drugs and counterfeit tobacco products.
Some South Korean officials believe the U.S. will also intensify its campaign against North Korea¡¯s human rights abuses. ¡°We need to focus on the fact that the Bush administration has recently said the North must implement its human rights commitments more actively,¡± a researcher with a government agency said. ¡°It could particularly put greater stress on abuse of women and children.¡± Another researcher said the U.S. may insist on imposing stronger controls on goods from the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.
Other strategies could include making things more difficult for North Korea-related projects in international organizations. What effect that would have on efforts to dismantle Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear program and bring the reclusive country back to the six-nation negotiating table remains to be seen.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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