Solar Energy News  
NUKEWARS
Report: N.Korea sought summit before warship sinking

US says sanctions to hit N.Korea illicit finance
Seoul (AFP) Aug 2, 2010 - Fresh sanctions announced last month will allow the United States to clamp down on illicit activities which earn North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars a year, a senior US official said Monday. These include counterfeiting US currency and other goods, drug smuggling and other "illicit and deceptive activities" in the international financial and banking systems, Robert Einhorn told a press conference, adding the sanctions will come into force soon. Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, was speaking at the start of a visit to South Korea and Japan aimed at tightening enforcement of sanctions on both the North and Iran.

Such activities bring hundreds of millions of dollars in hard currency annually into North Korea which can be used to support its nuclear or missile programmes or fund luxury goods purchases in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, he said. The new measures, announced last month in Seoul by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would allow Washington to designate entities and individuals involved in such activities and "block the property or assets they possess that are under the control of a US person or bank", Einhorn told a press conference. "By publicly naming these entities, these measures can have the broader effect of isolating them from the international financial and commercial system," he said. The new sanctions on the North are designed to punish it for the alleged sinking of a South Korean warship and to pressure it to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) Aug 2, 2010
North Korea attacked a South Korean warship after the South balked at its request for economic aid in return for a proposed summit, a report said Monday.

The North's request was delivered through a senior member of the South's ruling Grand National Party last December, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported, quoting sources familiar with Pyongyang.

It said the North demanded that the South pledge economic assistance including 300,000 tons of fertiliser before any summit between President Lee Myung-Bak and its leader Kim Jong-Il.

It also called for the establishment of an unofficial channel for inter-Korean dialogue, designating then-South Korean Labour Minister Yim Tae-Hee as dialogue partner, the paper said.

The unification ministry and the presidential office had no comment on the report.

Yim, one of Lee's close confidants, reportedly held a secret meeting with a North Korean official in Singapore late last year in an unsuccessful attempt to arrange a summit. He became chief of presidential staff last month.

Seoul, however, failed to give a clear answer to Pyongyang for months because of intense debate among its top policymakers, Dong-A said.

In February Lee said he would not reward North Korea for agreeing to hold a fence-mending summit.

In March, according to South Korean and US officials, a North Korean submarine torpedoed the corvette near the disputed sea border with the loss of 46 lives.

The first-ever summit was held in 2000 and a second in 2007, when Seoul's left-leaning leaders were practising a "sunshine" aid and engagement policy with Pyongyang.

Lee, a conservative, took office in 2008 and linked major aid to progress in the North's nuclear disarmament, sparking anger in Pyongyang. Nevertheless, the impoverished North put out peace feelers late last summer.

Last month it invited an association of South Korean relief groups for talks on the proposed opening of their permanent office in Pyongyang to monitor the distribution of aid.

But the South's unification ministry, which must by law approve all visits to the North, said Monday it has rejected the association's request to make the trip.

The South, as part of punitive measures announced in May following the warship sinking, banned most cross-border trade and trips.

"As long as the situation remains unchanged, there will be no exception," spokeswoman Lee Jong-Joo told AFP.

earlier related report
US envoy holds talks in Seoul on new N.Korea sanctions
Seoul (AFP) Aug 2, 2010 - The United States hopes new sanctions on North Korea will be strong enough to discourage "provocative activities" and encourage it to scrap its nuclear weapons programme, a senior US envoy said Monday.

Robert Einhorn said Washington wants measures "that provide strong incentives for North Korea's leaders to abide by their international obligations not to pursue any provocative activities, and fulfil completely their commitments for denuclearisation".

Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, was speaking at the start of a visit to South Korea and Japan aimed at tightening sanctions on both the North and Iran.

Seoul and Washington accuse Pyongyang of torpedoing a South Korean warship earlier this year with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it vehemently denies.

During a visit to Seoul last month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced new US sanctions on the North along with efforts to tighten existing United Nations measures.

The two allies last week held a major naval and air exercise designed to deter against cross-border aggression.

The North has threatened unspecified "strong physical measures" against the new US measures.

Einhorn is accompanied by Daniel Glaser, a senior Treasury official overseeing efforts to combat terrorist financing and financial crimes.

Speaking after a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-Joon, Einhorn said the allies should work closely together to deal with threats to international security posed by both North Korea and Iran.

"One means of addressing these challenges is to create the pressures felt by these two governments, so that they recognise it is in the best interests of their countries to meet their international obligations and forsake nuclear weapons," he told reporters.

But he said different measures may be needed for each government to persuade it "to be more reasonable", adding that Washington is still finalising new measures.

Six-party talks on the North's denuclearisation have been stalled since December 2008. In April last year the North quit the forum before staging its second nuclear weapons test a month later.

Einhorn also met Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan and chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-Lac. He was to hold a press conference later in the day.

Widespread local media reports have said that, as part of the punitive measures, the United States plans to freeze some 100 overseas bank accounts believed linked to illicit North Korean transactions.

During her visit to Seoul Clinton announced new sanctions "directed at the destabilising, illicit, and provocative policies" of the North's regime.

She also announced greater efforts under existing regulations, to freeze the North's suspect assets.

China, the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, has not backed the findings of international investigators, who said there was overwhelming evidence that Pyongyang sank the warship.

A US State Department spokesman last week urged China to live up to its international obligations on sanctions, and use its leverage to change the North's behaviour.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


NUKEWARS
US official pledges crackdown on illicit N.Korea funds
Seoul (AFP) Aug 2, 2010
New sanctions to be adopted soon will allow the United States to clamp down on illicit activities which earn North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars a year, a senior US official said Monday. These include counterfeiting US currency and other goods, drug smuggling and other "illicit and deceptive activities" in the international financial and banking systems, Robert Einhorn told a news co ... read more







NUKEWARS
Biodiesel Facility Revving Up For Business

New Patent Application For Pyrolysis Oil Based Biofuel

Seeks To Improve Sensors That Monitor Diesel Fuel Quality

SynGest's Bioammonia Project Receives Support

NUKEWARS
Japan's new robot brings visitors home by video-phone

'Welfare robots' to ease burden in greying Japan

Broadway sings blues over synthesizer invasion

U.S. robot sets 14-mile 'walking' record

NUKEWARS
German wind growth down, exports strong

Study Shows Stability And Utility Of Floating Wind Turbines

Leading French Wind Farm Developer Says Yes To Triton

Floating ocean wind turbines proposed

NUKEWARS
China's Geely signals new era for Volvo

China approves Geely takeover of Volvo

Nissan to offer breathable Vitamin C in new cars

Australia PM offers 'cash for clunkers' climate policy

NUKEWARS
SDE Has Finalized The Construction Of The First Sea Wave Power Plant

Findings Show Promise For Nuclear Fusion Test Reactors

Berkeley Lab's Battery Team Looks Beyond Vehicles To The Electric Grid

Leak delays BP tests ahead of well 'kill' operation

NUKEWARS
Graphene Exhibits Bizarre New Behavior Well Suited To Electronic Devices

German power plant testing CO2-scrubbing algae

Carbon trading used as money-laundering front: experts

Europe must up CO2 cuts to 30 percent: EU's big three

NUKEWARS
Iraq delays gas bid round until October

Booming Morocco opts for GE gas turbines

US Republicans assail trimmed Democratic energy plan

Bangladesh and India sign electricity deal

NUKEWARS
Sites in China, Mexico, Brazil get World Heritage status

Uruguay pulp mill row nears resolution

Violence erupts at protest over Russian forest

Greenpeace makes fresh allegations against Indonesian firm


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement