DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Slams U.S. Racket of Tightening Financial Sanctions

Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA on Wednesday as regards the frantic financial sanctions racket being kicked up by the U.S.-led hostile forces against the DPRK: The U.S.-led hostile forces at a plenary meeting of the International Financial Supervisory Body held in Paris in February last again staged a farce of re-listing the DPRK as a target of "countermeasure" for blocking its financial transactions with other countries. Then, they pressurized the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) headquartered in Belgium into terminating its financial communication service to the banks of the DPRK. The U.S. House of Representatives produced a "bill on escalating sanctions with respect to transactions with North Korea" after modifying and supplementing the "North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016." It has gone the lengths of crying out for independent sanctions against banks and businesses of other countries dealing with the DPRK after inventing absurd pretexts. A step was taken by SWIFT to ban its communication with the banks of the DPRK but the banks of the DPRK have not dealt with the SWIFT since a long time ago in actuality. The DPRK is doing its best after establishing the system of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism in accordance with international standard. The independent sanctions the U.S. claims slapping against other countries dealing with the DPRK are also being opposed worldwide as an impudent act of wantonly violating international law. They can never check the advance of the DPRK accelerating the building of a socialist power under the unfurled banner of self-reliance and self-development, firmly holding the nuclear deterrent, a treasured sword of victory. -0-