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US rejects North Korea demand to end crackdown
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-04 09:39
The United States on Tuesday rejected North Korea's demand to end a crackdown
on the latter's finances before nuclear weapons talks can restart and said this
matter is "not subject to negotiation."
In a tough statement, the White House also insisted that it would continue to
take action to thwart what it said was North Korea's money laundering and
counterfeiting activities.
"We've made very clear what the concerns are when it comes to those
activities, whether it's counterfeiting U.S. money, engaging in drugs or
proliferation of weapons technology," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
"It is not a subject (for) negotiation. We are going to continue to take
action to stop them from engaging in illicit activities," he said.
In September, the U.S. banned American institutions from doing business with
Macao-based Banco Delta Asia over allegations it helped launder North Korean
funds from trafficking drugs and counterfeit goods.
A month later, it blacklisted eight North Korean companies for allegedly
supporting Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons programs.
U.S. law-enforcement agents have also arrested nearly 100 individuals over
the past six months for allegedly trafficking counterfeit U.S. $100 bills,
cigarettes and drugs into the United States and Europe, the Wall Street Journal
reported last month.
North Korea on Tuesday demanded an end to the U.S. crackdown on its financing
activities before it would return to six-country talks on dismantling its
nuclear weapons.
South Korea has urged the United States, China and North Korea to resolve the
standoff over the financial crackdown.
The North agreed during the last round of talks in November to a statement of
principles that included Pyongyang's promise to dismantle its nuclear program.
But it has since resisted setting a date for new talks, which negotiators hoped
would occur later this month.
McClellan called Pyongyang's demand "yet another in a long list of pretext
for delay."
Another senior official said North Korea may be feeling the effects of the
U.S. action.
He told Reuters that when U.S. firms stopped doing business with Banco Delta
Asia, the bank experienced problems with its balance sheet and banking
authorities on Macao "stepped in and froze the accounts pending the outcome of
their own investigation on the matter."
The official, who spoke on background because of the sensitivity of the
issue, said the U.S. investigation into North Korea's activities has been going
on for some time and the crackdown began before Pyongyang accepted the September
agreement in principle.
"So if the North Koreans are choosing to make an issue of this, it's a choice
they made somewhat later in the game and long after the issue had surfaced," he
said.
Although the North continues to operate its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and
presumably produce weapons-grade plutonium, the official said the United States
needs to hang tough.
The official said the North was a partner with the United States, South
Korea, Japan, China and Russia in adopting the agreement in principle and
remained optimistic that the deal's "logic" -- offering economic benefits and
international acceptance if Pyongyang gives up nuclear weapons -- would
eventually prevail.
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