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U.S. may sanction N. Korea for alleged criminal acts: minister
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- The United States is expected to slap new sanctions on North Korea for allegedly counterfeiting U.S. currency and other illicit activities, separate from those outlined in a forthcoming U.N. resolution, South Korea's foreign minister said Friday.
Minister Yu Myung-hwan said the U.S. is planning to take stricter action against international crimes committed by North Korea, some of which Washington has let pass in recent years.
"The U.S. and Japan are expected to impose bilateral sanctions (on North Korea) aimed at specific illegal activities," Yu told reporters. He met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington last week to discuss ways to deal with North Korea.
The minister recalled Washington's financial restrictions on Banco Delta Asia, a relatively small bank in Macau that was accused of helping North Korea launder money earned through its counterfeiting and narcotics trade. The measure effectively froze US$25 million of North Korean assets at the bank and prompted many other foreign financial institutions to suspend transactions with Pyongyang.
Last week, the Washington Times cited U.S. intelligence officials as saying that the North is continuing to produce high-quality counterfeit US$100 bills called "supernotes" under a program led by Gen. O Kuk-ryol, deputy chief of the country's powerful National Defense Commission.
Yu refused to confirm the report but said he was aware of the fact that thousands of supernotes, which some media here suspect had been produced in North Korea, were found in South Korea's southern port city of Busan late last year.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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