Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Knocking out a North Korea - Iran link

The U.S. Department of the Treasury acted on 30.June to designate Hong Kong Electronics under Executive Order 13382, which
...freezes the assets of designated proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with them...
Namchongang Trading Corporation (NCG), a North Korean nuclear-related company in Pyongyang, also got designated the same day under E.O. 13382 by the U.S. Department of State.

"Hong Kong Electronics" is in fact a North Korean front operation based in the Kish Island (international trade zone) of Iran, and operated as a primary pipeline for the transfer of Iranian money to North Korea in support of arms trading.

Obviously this doesn't completely cut the tie, but loss of access to U.S. financial and commercial systems echoes through the world's financial transfer system and makes it much harder to move money.

One more little cut to weaken the beast; it will take more before it falls

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