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The U.S. has frozen the assets of a Swiss company it accuses of aiding North Korea in alleged ¡°proliferation¡± of nuclear weapons technology. Washington on Thursday froze the accounts of Kohas AG and its president Jakob Striger. The measure, taken by executive decree, is based on a charge that Kohas had dealings with a North Korean company whose assets were frozen last year, Korea Ryonbong General Corp.
This is the second time Washington has made good a threat to punish companies from third countries for their alleged involvement in a range of crimes the North is accused of. Last September, it banned all U.S. firms from transacting with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia in an effort to strangle the North¡¯s cash flow.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has slammed China for repatriating a North Korean refugee using the pseudonym Kim Chun-hee. In an unusual move, the statement issued Thursday by President George W. Bush¡¯s staff from Cancun, Mexico reminded China of its obligation under international treaties not to return North Korean asylum-seekers without allowing them access to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.
Washington¡¯s special envoy on human rights in North Korea, Jay Lefkowitz, earlier promised this year would be a ¡°turning point¡± in the U.S.¡¯s own failure to grant asylum to a single North Korean refugee, saying ¡°discussions are underway¡± to see if any can be admitted.
On Thursday, Lefkowitz criticized the joint Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, where he said North Korean laborers work without guaranteed rights for less than US$2 a day. He suggested an independent organization like the International Labor Organization should inspect the complex and report its findings to the UN.
A spokesman for South Korea¡¯s Unification Ministry, Lee Gwan-se, protested against the remarks on Friday. ¡°The lowest monthly paycheck for laborers of the industrial complex stands at US$57.5 or around $2 a day, but that figure is far higher than what ordinary North Korean workers in other regions are paid,¡± Lee said. He added working conditions in the Kaesong complex are in line with ILO standards.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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