http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/12/27/north-korea-selling-off-gold-reserves/ News and analysis of the North Korean economy Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:00:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/12/27/north-korea-selling-off-gold-reserves/#comment-15700 OneFreeKorea » Dude, Where’s My Spine? Agreed Framework 2.0 at Four Months Sun, 17 Jun 2007 03:16:08 +0000 http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/12/27/north-korea-selling-off-gold-reserves/#comment-15700 [...] What have we given up for those dubious benefits?  A chance to gain everything that Kim Jong Il will never give us, including a lasting peace, by ending Kim Jong Il’s misrule.  Treasury’s pressure on North Korea’s money laundering was reported to have “dealt a severe blow to [North Korea’s] economy,” “dried up its financial system,” “brought [its] foreign trade virtually to an end,” and had a “snowballing … avalanche effect” that created “huge pressure” on the regime.  The Banco Delta action and Treasury’s implicit threats to take similar actions elsewhere cost Kim Jong Il financial relationships not just in Macau, but in China, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea.  Eventually, Kim was forced to start selling off his gold reserves, and even reportedly confided in Chinese President Hu Jintao that he feared the collapse of his government.  Without question, that pressure was also our best hope of getting a disarmament deal on favorable and verifiable terms, if we’d only had the courage to insist on them. [...] […] What have we given up for those dubious benefits?  A chance to gain everything that Kim Jong Il will never give us, including a lasting peace, by ending Kim Jong Il’s misrule.  Treasury’s pressure on North Korea’s money laundering was reported to have “dealt a severe blow to [North Korea’s] economy,” “dried up its financial system,” “brought [its] foreign trade virtually to an end,” and had a “snowballing … avalanche effect” that created “huge pressure” on the regime.  The Banco Delta action and Treasury’s implicit threats to take similar actions elsewhere cost Kim Jong Il financial relationships not just in Macau, but in China, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea.  Eventually, Kim was forced to start selling off his gold reserves, and even reportedly confided in Chinese President Hu Jintao that he feared the collapse of his government.  Without question, that pressure was also our best hope of getting a disarmament deal on favorable and verifiable terms, if we’d only had the courage to insist on them. […]

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