U.S. officials on Tuesday disclosed their intent to blacklist North Korea as a "primary money laundering concern" under the Patriot Act, citing ties between the country's financial system and nuclear weapons program. If finalized, the designation would require American banks to use transactional records obtained during the "normal course of business" to identify which, if any, of their foreign correspondent clients are processing U.S.-dollar transactions on behalf of North Korean banks, and consider closing their accounts. The U.S. Treasury Department proposal would also require financial institutions to assess the particular risks associated with each of their foreign correspondent clients and...
The United States blacklisted the North Korean head-of-state Kim Jong Un and 10 other officials on Wednesday for their purported role in extrajudicial killings, torture and other human rights abuses.
China will continue playing an outsized role in international efforts to deter North Korea from advancing its nuclear weapons program but South Korea and the United States also "have much more work left to do," according to Washington, D.C. attorney Joshua Stanton.
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