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US sanctions N. Korean, Chinese firms aiding Pyongyang
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jan 24, 2018


US warns Hong Kong on illicit North Korea trade
Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 24, 2018 - A senior United States official warned Hong Kong authorities Wednesday they must stop the city being used as a "safe harbour" for illicit trade with North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions.

The warning came weeks after a Hong Kong-flagged ship was seized in South Korea for transferring oil products to another vessel.

The UN -- at the urging of the US -- has imposed a series of sanctions against North Korea aimed at tightening the economic screws on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear programme.

At a briefing in Hong Kong Wednesday, Sigal P. Mandelker, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US treasury, said it was "extremely easy" for companies to register in Hong Kong, and authorities needed to tighten up.

Hong Kong prides itself on making it easy to do business in the city, with light-touch regulation, discretion and non-cooperation with foreign tax authorities.

But it has also earned a reputation for murky dealings -- the 2016 Panama Papers leak exposed the city as playing a key role in channelling money to tax havens via thousands of shell companies, including some linked to China's top political brass.

Mandelker said that city authorities must "send a strong message that Hong Kong is not going to be a place where companies can find any kind of safe harbour" for front companies or shell companies.

"This shouldn't be a place where companies can establish themselves to help in the smuggling, ship-to-ship transfers, et cetera," she told reporters.

Hong Kong's government said Wednesday it "strictly implements" the UN sanctions and is "highly vigilant" about suspected violations, which would be investigated by authorities.

"Regarding company incorporation, Hong Kong's regime is similar to that of many other common law jurisdictions such as the UK and Singapore," it said in a statement provided to AFP.

Two new laws strengthening existing regulatory requirements will come into force in March, the statement added.

Mandelker also said her team had pressed Beijing to expel North Korean financial facilitators or bank representatives who "illicitly access the international financial system".

China is the North's biggest trading partner and has been accused by US President Donald Trump of helping Pyongyang skirt sanctions.

Last month it emerged that South Korea had briefly seized and inspected a Hong Kong-registered ship in November for transferring oil products to a North Korean vessel and breaching UN sanctions.

The Lighthouse Winmore, which was chartered by a Taiwanese company and carrying around 600 tonnes of oil products from South Korea's Yeosu port, transferred part of its cargo to a North Korean vessel on October 19, a foreign ministry official said.

The firm that owned the ship had a registered office in Hong Kong and a director with an address in the southern mainland city of Guangzhou, according to Hong Kong's companies registry.

Hong Kong is part of China but is semi-autonomous with its own British-style independent legal system. Rule of law has been a major factor in wooing global business.

The United States slapped new sanctions on North Korean and Chinese firms and individuals that it said support the Pyongyang regime of Kim Jong-Un and his nuclear weapons program.

The move comes as the US seeks to choke the flow of goods and materials crucial to North Korea's economy like oil, electronics and metals, and pressure Kim to halt the development of nuclear weapons that threaten the region and potentially the US mainland.

The new sanctions issued by the US Treasury included representatives of North Korean companies and banks mostly based in China and Russia; North Korean shipping companies and six specific vessels; and two Chinese trading firms.

"Treasury continues to systematically target individuals and entities financing the Kim regime and its weapons programs, including officials complicit in North Korean sanctions evasion schemes," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.

Following UN sanctions, Mnuchin said, "the US government is targeting illicit actors in China, Russia, and elsewhere who are working on behalf of North Korean financial networks, and calling for their expulsion from the territories where they reside.

"We are sanctioning additional oil, shipping, and trading companies that continue to provide a lifeline to North Korea to fuel this regime's nuclear ambitions and destabilizing activities."

The sanctions seek to lock those named out of the global economy by banning US individuals and companies -- including foreign banks and trading firms with US entities -- from doing business with them.

- North Korean traders and bankers -

Ten of the individuals listed for sanctions were representatives of Korea Ryonbong General Corporation, a UN-designated company that makes acquisitions and supports sales for the North Korea defense industry.

Most were based in Chinese cities on the border with North Korea, nearby Russian cities, where they helped arrange shipping of materials and goods to North Korea.

One Ryonbong representative was based in Abkhazia, Georgia, where according to the Treasury he arranged to deploy North Korean workers, which Pyongyang uses to obtain foreign currency.

Five others worked for North Korean banks in the northern Chinese cities of Dalian and Shenyang, and in Vladivostok, Russia.

Two Chinese businesses, Beijing Chengxing Trading Co. and Dandong Jinxiang Trade Co., were placed on the sanctions blacklist sales of everything from high purity metals to used computers to North Korean businesses already named for sanctions.

Five North Korean shipping companies and six vessels were also blacklisted, as the US targets efforts by Pyongyang to obtain needed materials like oil and coal via ship to ship transfers from foreign vessels on the high seas.

The sanctions also included the North Korean Ministry of Crude Oil Industry, which could affect any foreign oil supplier doing business with the ministry.

- Frustrated with China, Russia -

The new sanctions represent Washington's frustrations that both China and Russia continue to enable or turn a blind eye to their own companies and shippers still doing business with North Korea.

That serves to erode the impact of sanctions designed to slow Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missiles program, and press Kim into negotiations.

Earlier Wednesday a senior US Treasury official warned Hong Kong authorities Wednesday they must stop the city being used as a "safe harbor" for illicit trade with North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions.

NUKEWARS
N. Korea says will celebrate military on eve of Olympics
Seoul (AFP) Jan 23, 2018
North Korea will mark the foundation of its regular army on February 8, its state media said Tuesday - which will be the day before the Winter Olympics open in the South. Reports and officials say that Pyongyang could be preparing a military parade as a display of strength ahead of the sporting festival, which has triggered a rare rapprochement between the two halves of the divided peninsul ... read more

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