Bradley Martin writes in Bloomberg this morning:
A U.K. businessman is seeking to raise $50 million to invest in North Korea, reviving a 2005 plan after the U.S. government removed the communist regime from its list of countries that support terrorism.
ChosunFund Pte. Ltd. will join with North Korean partners for mining and energy projects, Colin McAskill, founder of the Singapore-incorporated fund, said in an interview.
“The country holds huge natural resources but is capital starved and lacks the technology and management skills with which to develop them,” McAskill said.
North Korea’s economy collapsed in the 1990s with the demise of communist regimes in Eastern Europe that had provided aid and favorable trade terms. McAskill scrapped the original fund after U.S.-imposed sanctions that led to a freezing of North Korean deposits at international banks.
The U.S. government removed the terrorist designation last October in exchange for wider scrutiny of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Feb. 20 that ties with North Korea won’t improve as long as it continues provocative verbal attacks on South Korea.
McAskill, 69, said he has been consulting on potential North Korean projects since 1987. While the country attracts one-off investment deals such as a recent contract licensing Orascom Telecom Holding SAE to provide wireless telephone services, it has struggled to raise money from global financial markets since defaulting on overseas debt in the 1970s.
London-based emerging markets money manager Fabien Pictet & Partners Ltd. was considering a fund that would invest in South Korean companies that do business with the North. The idea is “on hold for the time being,” Jonathan Neill, managing director, said in an e-mail.
Read the full story here:
North Korea Fund Seeks $50 Million After Terror Label Removed
Bloomberg
Bradley Martin
2/24/2009
Hello, My present name is Mary Christian, my old Korean name is “Miss Yoon.” I am looking for “Lynn Turk” who was a U.S. Army captain in 1970’s in Korea, and his job had something to do with North Korea then. He and I were a very good friends and he told me that he wanted to become a ambassador. And today, the first time, I was searching for him through internet and I see his name here and there and the description fits him so well. And I found that, through an article I was reading, Mr. McAskill (whom I never met) talked with Mr. Turk through the phone, and I feel that McAskill still could have Mr. Turk’s telephone number or email address, etc.
Or, is there anyway I can talk to Mr. McAskill to find out the”Mr. Lynn Turk” in his article is the same Lynn Turk I am looking for.
Or, Mr. McAskill. Would you tell Lynn Turk that “Miss Yoon” is looking for him?
If he is the same person, he will immediately call me. My phone number is 206-719-5741 Address is: 8831-719-5741
Please help me to find him. Thank you. Jesus loves you. 9-25-2005
PS: I believe Mr. Turk finished a collage in Chicago, IL, and he is about 62?-64? years old now.