Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
U.N., U.S. move to increase pressure on North Korea
Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:57pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Patrick Worsnip and Paul Eckert
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council neared agreement on Wednesday on North Korean firms and individuals to be added to a blacklist for involvement in Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, diplomats said.
Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu told reporters "we are very close" to agreement on the expanded sanctions list. Diplomats said a council committee that has been discussing the issue for a month was on target to meet a weekend deadline for completing its task and could do so as early as Thursday.
As diplomats put the finishing touches on expanding U.N. sanctions, U.S. officials said they had succeeded in increasing international awareness of methods North Korea uses to disguise its trade in illicit weapons as legal business transactions.
"North Korea engages in a variety of deceptive financial practices that are intended to obscure the true nature of their transactions," said a senior Obama administration official.
A U.S. team is traveling to key world capitals to warn governments and banks that North Korean practices make it "virtually impossible to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate business," the official said in Washington.
Firms and governments in China, Hong Kong and other places North Korea does business were taking seriously the U.S. warnings about Pyongyang's practice of using front companies and unusually large cash transactions, he added.
The official said the goal was to bring scrutiny and thwart suspicious activities, not to hit all North Korean trade. Humanitarian aid would not be affected.
Arms sales are a vital source of foreign currency for destitute North Korea, with a yearly GDP of about $17 billion and a broken economy that produces few other items it can export.
The U.S.-based Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis estimates North Korea earns some $1.5 billion a year from missile sales. Other studies said the figure may be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and prior sanctions have cut into exports.
Analysts said the new U.N. measures will make it more costly for the North to trade arms but they will not likely deter customers, including Iran, who have shown little interest in joining international plans to punish Pyongyang.
North Korea's annual legitimate trade is estimated at about $3.8 billion, with China being its largest partner with exchanges of about $2.8 billion a year. Previous U.N. sanctions have not dented trade.
Beijing has been reluctant to cut trade, a lifeline to its impoverished neighbor, fearing it could cause a collapse of the North's government and lead to chaos on its border.
"Countries that actually do business with North Korea may find loopholes in the interpretation as to what is legitimate or not," said Shin Sang-jin, a professor at South Korea's Kwangoon University who specializes in North Korean-China relations.
NORTH KOREAN FRONT COMPANIES
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on June 12 that expanded U.N. sanctions against North Korea in response to a nuclear test it carried out on May 25, and asked the committee to add more names to the sanctions list. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
U.S. raises "fair treatment" in China after Rio case
Also On Reuters
California's needy may bear brunt of budget crisis
Wal-Mart to rate products' environmental impact
It's iPhone Impressionism, courtesy of Christie's
More International News
Black boxes recovered from crashed Iranian plane
| Video
U.S. raises "fair treatment" in China after Rio case
India, Pakistan PMs to meet, Mumbai attacks cloud talks
Pressure builds on Japan PM; calls to quit may grow
Former S.Korean Pres. Kim Dae-jung critically ill: media
More International News...
Related News
North Korea says no dialogue without respect for sovereignty
15 Jul 2009
U.N. panel close to naming North Korea sanctions targets
15 Jul 2009
Q+A: How North Korea earns money from arms sales
15 Jul 2009
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Australia's "worst case scenario" 6,000 H1N1 deaths
Capitol police say suspect killed near Capitol
Obama's Supreme Court pick treads careful line | Video
U.S. sends condolences after Iranian plane crash
Obama prods Congress on healthcare; Senate panel acts
CIT talks fall apart, bankruptcy looms | Video
Russian rights activist kidnapped, found dead
China sweeping secrets laws leave Rio few options
Redford weds German girlfriend in private ceremony
Group blames Chechen leader for activist's murder
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Casualties mount in Afghanistan
US says Iran talks on the table
Obama makes first pitch at All-Stars
How to commemorate the moonwalk
Sotomayor back in the hot seat
12 killed in latest Mexico violence
Iran plane crash - all on board die
Israeli soldiers Gaza ''war crimes''
Lost UK hiker found in Australia
Lab mulls drunk vs high drivers
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.