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북한, 은행을 정보기관(情報機關)의 거점(據點)으로 이용





오스트리아(Austria) 내무성(內務省)이 보고(報告)





7월23일자 영국 신문 데일리텔레그래프(The Daily Telegraph)는, 빈(Vienna)에 있는 북한 은행(銀行) 골든스타뱅크(The Golden Star Bank)가 북한 정보기관(情報機關)의 거점(據點)으로서 이용되고 있다는 것이 오스트리아(Austria) 내무성(內務省)의 보고(報告)로 밝혀졌다고 보도(報道)했다.





머니론더링(money laundering)[자금세탁(資金洗濯)]에 관여(關與)나 평양(平壤)의 군사계획(軍事計劃)에 자금공급(資金供給)을 시도(試圖)하고 있는 혐의(嫌疑)도 있다.





다만, 오스트리아 정부(政府)는 동(同) 은행을 폐쇄(閉鎖)할 의향(意向)은 없다고 한다.　














[THE DAILY TELEGRAPH)





Austria accuses North Korean bank of being spy HQ





By Michael Leidig in Vienna





July 23, 2003





North Korea's only bank in Europe, the Golden Star Bank in


Vienna, is being used as a base for North Korean secret


services, according to a report by the Austrian authorities.





However, the Austrian government says the bank will not be


closed, even though it is also suspected of being involved


in money laundering and attempts to finance Pyongyang's


military programme.





Rudolf Gollia, a spokesman for the Austrian interior


ministry, confirmed that the bank was under scrutiny.





However, an Austrian interior ministry report, a copy of


which has been obtained by The Telegraph, warns that the


Golden Star Bank is still being allowed to trade - even


though it is clearly a base for North Korean secret service


operatives.





The report says: "There are detectable efforts by the North


Korean secret services to place its agents in diplomatic and


non-diplomatic positions in Austria. The camouflage for


these activities is Europe's only established branch of the


North Korean state bank, which is located in Vienna, as well


as martial arts clubs established around the country."





It added that the North Koreans are "finding it increasingly


difficult to raise the finances to fund the further


development of weapons of mass destruction, as well as for


the modernisation of middle-range missiles, and are looking


increasingly to the West for the needed know-how and


technical components, which means it is vital for Austria to


make sure it keeps a close eye on North Korean


representatives".





The report did not define "detectable efforts", but added


that the regime in North Korea was "financing itself by


selling weapons and military technology to countries in


crisis, as well as Third World countries in the Middle and


Far East such as Syria, Iran and Libya." Despite its


suspicions that the bank is involved in money laundering,


sources said the government had not yet secured enough


evidence to shut the operation down.





A spokesman at the bank, which opened in Vienna in 1982,


refused to comment on the report linking it with the secret


service.





It also refused to comment on how many staff are employed at


its five-storey building covering 800 sq metres at the


corner of Kaiserstrasse and Apollogasse in the seventh


district of Vienna.





Austria tightened its banking laws after it was named by the


US as one of the money-laundering capitals of the world


because of its secretive bank accounts, and it only recently


froze anonymous bank accounts after immense international


pressure - in particular from the EU, which made the phasing


out of such accounts a condition of membership.





More recently, in the wake of the World Trade Centre


attacks, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said


authorities would also be empowered to freeze the assets of


suspected terrorist organisations. The Austrian media has


reported that the cash-starved North Korean regime is


believed to earn over a billion dollars a year in hard


currency by selling opium and rocket weapons technology


alone.





According to the Asian Wall Street Journal, the regime in


Pyongyang carries out legal deals using the Daesong Group.


However, its illegal trade, including selling of minerals


and ginseng, in which the country has a virtual monopoly, is


carried out using a secret banking network based in Beijing,


Macao and Seoul and linked with the bank in Vienna.





A spokesman at the Austrian finance ministry confirmed that


the bank had a concession to operate in Austria including


investing for its North Korean customers in European banks.





The United Nations nuclear watchdog - also based in Vienna -


has warned that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme now


poses the most serious nuclear threat to the world.





http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/07/23/wkor23.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/07/23/ixworld.html














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