August 30, 2006 :: Kommersant :: News
Kommersant reports that the U.S. may soon accuse Russia of benefiting financially from North Korea’s missile proliferation. Russian firms may be helping North Korea to develop missile technology, which Pyongyang then sells to nations such as Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. Once the sales are completed, the North Koreans deposit their proceeds in Russian banks. The article hints that Pyongyang may be running out of foreign accounts to store its proliferation proceeds due to U.S. pressure on Vietnam and China to freeze North Korean assets, and therefore has turned to the former Soviet Union. Peter Beck, head of the International Crisis Group, told Kommersant yesterday that Russia is “the last financial refuge for the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea.” Japanese media sources reported last week that North Korea had opened new bank accounts in ten different countries, including Russia, which lends credibility to Beck’s argument.
Kommersant speculates that North Korea may be using the accounts of its embassy in Moscow to transfer funds. If this is true, it means that Pyongyang could be stashing its proliferation proceeds in Vneshtorgbank, which services the diplomatic missions in Moscow. Another possible recipient of North Korean assets is Vneshekonombank, which reached an interstate agreement with North Korea in the mid-1980s and opened “accounts on objects of technical cooperation and military-technical cooperation” with Pyongyang in 1992. Kommersant reports that Vneshekonombank still has several accounts with the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea. Beck adds that U.S. officials see “a high degree of likelihood” in Russian financial dealing with North Korea, which could further sour relations between the two nations vis-à-vis Iran, a primary benefactor of North Korean missile proliferation. (Article)
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