DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Urges U.S. to Lift Financial Sanctions

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

    Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK Tuesday gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA blasting the U.S. for persistently floating far-fetched assertion that the DPRK counterfeited U.S. dollars without producing any evidence: Of late officials of the U.S. administration claimed as regards the U.S. financial sanctions against the DPRK that it should halt all its "illegal activities" in practice, it should "produce the copperplate used for counterfeiting notes" and sanctions are part of the measures for "frustrating" the nuke development.
    As we have clarified more than once, such illegal dealings as "money laundering" and "counterfeit notes" have nothing in common with the policy of the DPRK and such assertion of the U.S. is nothing but a fabrication solely intended to tarnish the image of the DPRK and do harm to it.
    It is the height of folly for them to assert that the above-said sanctions are aimed to "cut off the very source of funds for the development of nukes". We manufactured nuclear weapons with our own technology, funds and raw materials from A to Z. As we are not dependent on the U.S. at all in the economic and financial fields, no U.S. sanctions would work on us.
    We attach importance to the lift of the financial sanctions against us because this issue serves as a yardstick showing whether the U.S. is willing to drop its hostile policy towards the DPRK as it had committed itself in the joint statement adopted at the six-party talks or not.
    As far as our dealing in U.S. dollars is concerned, this was forced upon us by the U.S. itself. By nature the DPRK wanted to join the international financial system to have normal banking transactions, but it was prevented from doing so by the U.S. obstructions. The U.S. has completely barred us from having normal financial transactions such as remittance of dollars to banks and settlement by credit cards, universally recognized means of financial transactions, and indiscriminately seized funds coming to and going out from our bank accounts.
    Under this situation the DPRK had no other choice but to deal in cash. Nevertheless, the U.S. has described paying on account the money the DPRK earned through normal trade as "laundering of money gained by illegal means". And it has talked nonsense that "fake dollars", which may be found in the course of cash transactions, were issued and circulated by the DPRK. Even some of its allies have contended that such argument is incredible as it has no sufficient evidence.
    The U.S. argument is quite childish and nonsensical. This was evidenced by the fact that the U.S. cited even the incoherent vituperation let loose by unidentified persons in a bid to make its fabrication sound plausible.
    After all, all this made the DPRK a victim of the issue and circulation of counterfeit notes.
    The responsibility for the present situation rests with the U.S. seeking to force the DPRK to "abandon its nuclear program first" through an anti-DPRK financial policy. We have already told the U.S. side that we were ready to cooperate in the efforts to settle the issue of "fake dollars", a worldwide trouble, and urged it not to bar the DPRK from participating in the normal international financial activities but cooperate with it. If the U.S. is truly interested in the protection of its currency, it should stop such reckless act as linking the issue of "fake dollars" with the DPRK in a far-fetched manner, lift financial embargo on the DPRK at an early date and opt for mutual cooperation in normal banking transaction. It would be the best policy for the U.S. The U.S. escalated moves to isolate and blockade the DPRK would only further increase the might of the single-minded unity of our people around the supreme headquarters.