YONHAP NEWS

N.K. delegation due in New York for financial briefing, negotiations

   By Lee Dong-min
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean financial delegation is due to arrive in New York on Thursday for negotiations on ending Pyongyang's suspected illicit activities and to receive informal briefings on how to join the international financial system.

   A six-member delegation led by Ki Kwang-ho, a director at the North Korean Finance Ministry, will attend a seminar sponsored by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) on Friday.

   The North Koreans will hold talks with U.S. counterparts, led by Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser, on Monday and Tuesday.

   A U.S. government official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the U.S. team will be comprised of officials from the State and Treasury departments, including the Secret Service.

   "The focus will be on North Korea's illicit financial activity, international recognized norms and standards for operating in the international financial system, and steps that the DPRK should take to be re-integrated into the international financial system," the official told Yonhap on Wednesday.

   DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

   At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said the New York meeting is a session of "bilateral financial working group."
"The North Koreans apparently... requested this meeting," he said, "and we think it's an opportunity to familizrize the North Koreans with accepted international banking practices and problems that have affected North Korea access to the international financial system."
The cash-strapped Pyongyang regime is accused of making and circulating counterfeit American currency, notably US$100 bills known as "supernotes" because of their near-perfect replications. North Korea is also suspected of selling fake American cigarettes and pharmaceuticals like Viagra and smuggling contraband.

   Although North Korea and U.S. have held financial negotiations before, next week's meetings signal the beginning of a new phase, with a different set of agendas aimed in the long run at diplomatic normalization.

   Previous negotiations dealt mostly with resolving U.S. Treasury's sanctions on a small Macanese bank in September 2005, which led to a freeze on some $25 million of North Korean assets. Pyongyang boycotted a six-nation denuclearization forum in protest and returned to the table earlier this year, only after the money was returned to Pyongyang.

   The sanctions were invoked based on North Korea's alleged illicit activities through the Macanese bank.

   The latest denuclearization agreements commit North Korea to ultimately give up its nuclear weapons and programs in return for political and economic benefits. The U.S. has long demanded that Pyongyang stop its illicit activities in order to be able to operate normally in the international financial system and establish relations with Washington.

   North Korea is also in need of assistance from global lenders, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which the U.S. is currently required to vote against.

   "Pyongyang was the first to show interest in reopening financial talks," a U.S. official close to the talks said. "They said they want to explain about their new strengthened laws on counterfeiting and other activities."
The NCAFP seminar on Friday is more of an informal briefing to explain to the North Koreans what they need to do to be able to join global economic institutions and receive their aid, according to the official.

   Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, and other diplomatic and financial figures are expected to attend the seminar, the official said.

   ldm@yna.co.kr
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