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January 22, 2007
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| NEW YORK ― A U.S. newspaper has reported that North Korea’s regime took tens of millions of dollars in United Nations money intended for its Pyongyang office. After the report, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met the associate administrator of the office, Ad Melkert, and vowed a thorough investigation. Mr. Melkert said the UN office would in March stop all payments in hard currency to North Korean authorities and office staff members. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the Kim Jong-il regime is suspected of misappropriating tens of millions of dollars from the United Nations Development Program office, which opened in 1997 in Pyongyang. The Journal report quoted a letter to Mr. Melkert from Ambassador Mark Wallace of the U.S. Mission, saying the UN office in Pyongyang “operated in blatant violation of UN rules, [and] served as a steady and large source of hard currency” for the Kim Jong-il regime. The UN has spent an estimated $27 million at its Pyongyang office since 1997. That includes $2 million per year for rent, which other UN offices throughout the world do not pay, the report said. North Korea is also suspected of taking money allocated for the local staff’s food expenses, according to the report. Washington reportedly urged the UN Development Program to suspend all North Korean projects until a complete level of transparency could be guaranteed. At a sensitive time in negotiations, the action against the office might be considered another financial sanction by Washington against North Korea, as the six-party anti-nuclear talks are expected to resume soon. Financial sanctions brought by the U.S. treasury office on Banco Delta Asia, which led to the freezing of $24 million in North Korean funds, have been a major sticking point in the discussions. North Korea also conducted missile and nuclear tests respectively in July and October last year. By Nam Jeong-ho, Lee Sang-eon JoongAng Ilbo sujiney@joongang.co.kr |
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