Korea Taesong Bank ([2] sometimes called Daesong Bank, Dae-Sung Bank[3] or Taesong General Trading Corporation;[4] in Japan called Chosun Tae Seong-Unhan; Tae-bank, Choson Taesong Unhaeng[5]) is a North Korean financial institution.[6]
The Korea Taesong Bank is reportedly controlled by Room 39.[7][3]
The Golden Star Bank, founded as a corporation in Vienna, Austria, was the only North Korean bank in Europe but was closed in 2004, was a subsidiary of the Taesong Bank.[7] Kwon Yong-nok was an auditor of the Golden Star Bank.[8]
"Taesong Bank, which received remittances from Mt. Kumgang tourism, is controlled by Room 39, and is also in charge of the exports of agricultural and fisheries products."[9]
Projects
- In 1989, it was to jointly develop the area around Mount Kumgang,[10] on the eastern coast of North Korea, as a tourist site with Hyundai.[11]
- The company has been implicated in the smuggling of arms into and out of North Korea[12] and "Involved in facilitating proliferation financing projects."[13]
Members
- In 1989, Choe Su-gil, president of the Taesong Bank of North Korea[11] and consultant to the Korean Association for the Promotion of Asian Trade.[10]
- In 2014, Kim Yo-jong took control of Taesong Bank, the Reunification and Development Bank, and a number of tourism and railway projects
- In 2014, Yun Tae-hyong, a regional manager in the Russian Far East for the Taesong Bank, defected to Russia.[4]
References
- OFAC ID: 12312 retrieved 26 May 2015^
- Recent OFAC Actions - November 18, 2010 US Treasury Department, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- How North Korea uses slaves to get around trade sanctions Business Insider, 11 July 2017, retrieved 12 September 2017^
- Madden, Michael. A Senior North Korean Banking Official Defects? 38 North, 3 September 2014, retrieved 7 April 2016^
- コリア・デソン・バンク retrieved 26 May 2015^
- Michael Breen (author) Kim Jong-Il, Revised and Updated: Kim Jong-il North Korea's Dear Leader 2012 1118153774 "Kim Jong-il: "the Daesong Group, which owns the Daesong Bank and the Vienna-based Golden Star Bank."^
- Timothée Germain. Mapping North Korea Proliferation cesim.fr, THE NON-PROLIFERATION MONTHLY, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- North Korean Policy Elites; see footnote 66 INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES, June 2004, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- Room (Bureau) 38 allegedly restored North Korean Economic Watch, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- South, North Koreans Talk of Tourism Venture Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1989, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- SUSAN CHIRA. THE TWO KOREAS AGREE TO DEVELOP RESORT IN NORTH The New York Times, 2 February 1989, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- Report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1874 (2009) United Nations, Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea, 14 June 2012, retrieved 26 May 2015^
- Sanctions: UK Treasury part 29; Sanctions in Action UK Treasury, 28 February 2011, retrieved 26 May 2015^