U.S. may sanction N. Korea for alleged criminal acts: minister

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- The United States is expected to slap new sanctions on
North Korea for allegedly counterfeiting U.S. currency and other illicit
activities, separate from those outlined in a forthcoming U.N. resolution, South
Korea's foreign minister said Friday.

Minister Yu Myung-hwan said the U.S. is planning to take stricter action against
international crimes committed by North Korea, some of which Washington has let
pass in recent years.
"The U.S. and Japan are expected to impose bilateral sanctions (on North Korea)
aimed at specific illegal activities," Yu told reporters. He met with U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington last week to discuss ways to
deal with North Korea.
The minister recalled Washington's financial restrictions on Banco Delta Asia, a
relatively small bank in Macau that was accused of helping North Korea launder
money earned through its counterfeiting and narcotics trade. The measure
effectively froze US$25 million of North Korean assets at the bank and prompted
many other foreign financial institutions to suspend transactions with Pyongyang.
Last week, the Washington Times cited U.S. intelligence officials as saying that
the North is continuing to produce high-quality counterfeit US$100 bills called
"supernotes" under a program led by Gen. O Kuk-ryol, deputy chief of the
country's powerful National Defense Commission.
Yu refused to confirm the report but said he was aware of the fact that thousands
of supernotes, which some media here suspect had been produced in North Korea,
were found in South Korea's southern port city of Busan late last year.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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