FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/TRADE DEALS: “Researchers in Washington and South Korea have identified a number of business transactions that they say show North Korea’s international financing web is more sophisticated than what was widely known previously.
A report by the researchers also concluded that Pyongyang’s illicit global financial network remains highly vulnerable to international sanctions, meaning the West may have broad leverage to wield. That conclusion is expected to be cited by advocates for toughening sanctions against companies doing business with North Korea.
As an example, the report cites one transaction in which a military equipment supplier run by North Korea’s intelligence agency used a front company in Hong Kong to purchase components from an East Asian electronics reseller. The payment was cleared through a correspondent account at Bank of America Corp. , according to the report. The reseller didn’t know it was doing business with Pyongyang, researchers said. Bank of America didn’t immediately provide comment.”
-Kate O’Keeffe and Ian Talley, “How North Korea’s Global Financing Web Works Around Sanctions,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 12, 2017 09:25am