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The government has illegally remitted dollars to North Korea that could have helped Pyongyang launder money since the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea went into operation 18 months ago. According to Finance and Economy Ministry papers acquired by Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Kei-kyung on Wednesday, the government even revised laws to make dollar transactions to North Korea from South Korean companies operating there possible.
South Korean firms at the complex pay their North Korean workers and contractors in U.S. dollars, and South Korea¡¯s Woori Bank branch in the industrial park handles the business.
When a South Korean company pays its North Korean contractor, it deposits money in Korean won in the main branch of Woori Bank in Seoul. With the guarantee, the Kaesong Branch of the bank gives the contractor the money in U.S. dollars. The Finance Ministry took issue with the system on April 17, saying it was an expedient violating regulations on foreign currency transactions, and called for new exceptions to make the transaction legal.
In the documents, the ministry points out that anonymous dollar transactions could lead to trouble in tax collection, and be used as means for money laundering, customs evasion and payments for smuggling. They could also distort the international account balance, since they are not included in foreign exchange statistics, the ministry said. ¡°To speak extremely, with the transaction method, the North can make a camouflage purchase of a South Korean company and use it as a channel for surreptitious remittances of illegal money from foreign countries,¡± Lee said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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