By: Yoo Jee – ho.
North Korea has been removed as an observer of a regional anti-money laundering group due to its lack of engagement and failure to fulfill obligations, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on 30th September.
The unanimous decision was made at the 26th general assembly of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), held in the United Arab Emirates on 24th September, the ministry said in a press release.
The APG, formed in 1997, is an intergovernmental body committed to effectively implementing the international standards against money laundering, and combating the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Currently, the APG consists of 42 member states, including the United States, Japan and China. South Korea joined the group in 1998.
North Korea obtained the APG observer position in July 2014. The APG had warned North Korea that no engagement in the group would deprive the regime of its observer status, and the disqualification was endorsed by the members as North Korea did not even meet the minimum requirements to maintain its status.
An observer state is required to allow a visit by an APG delegation for an exchange of relevant information and cooperate with the APG to publish a regular report on the country’s implementation of anti-money laundering practices, among others.
The APG has found that North Korea has not engaged in the APG activities for the past six years and has not responded to the APG’s calls for contact.
North Korea last Thursday blasted a regional anti-money laundering group for stripping it of an observer status, saying the organization had become “a political tool” of the United States. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North’s spokesperson for the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism accused the APG of following the hostile U.S. policy toward Pyongyang and ignoring the country’s “sincere efforts and transparent measures” in anti-money laundering.
However, these claims by North Korea are difficult to accept because they are so far from reality, and they seem likely to only lead to self-isolation.
