U.S. sanctions will target North Korean cash flow

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday announced new U.S. sanctions against North Korea that are aimed at halting moneymaking schemes it uses to fund its nuclear program.

The U.S. will freeze assets of businesses and individuals associated with the North Korean regime, and collaborate with banks to stop illegal financial transactions. The sanctions also will target luxury items purchased by the regime’s ruling elite and seek to stop the abuse of diplomatic privileges to carry out illegal activities, Clinton said.

North Korea is already under wide-ranging international sanctions because of its nuclear program. The U.S. eased some restrictions in 2008 after Pyongyang agreed to allow inspectors access to its declared nuclear sites. That deal fell apart last year when the nation announced that it was walking away from disarmament-for-aid talks.

“These measures are not directed at the people of North Korea, who have suffered too long due to the misguided priorities of their government,” Clinton said at a news conference. “They are directed at the destabilizing, illicit and provocative policies pursued by that government.”

Clinton, visiting South Korea with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates four months after the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, said North Korea had the option of ending its isolation.

“North Korea can cease its provocative behavior, halt its threats and belligerence towards its neighbors, take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and comply with international law,” Clinton said.

She added that resuming stalled nuclear talks “is not something we’re looking at yet.” The North should first take responsibility for the sinking of the South Korean warship and agree to dismantle its nuclear programs, she said, “but to date, we have seen nothing” indicating a change in Pyongyang’s stance.

An investigation led by South Korea concluded that the warship Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo. North Korea has denied that.

Earlier Wednesday, Clinton and Gates pledged continuing U.S. support for defense of South Korea in a visit to the demilitarized zone about 30 miles north of Seoul.

Their brief tour of the spot where the Korean War halted in 1953 was the centerpiece of a visit meant to show resolve in the aftermath of the sinking of the Cheonan, in which 46 crew members died.

Clinton emphasized that better relations with the North remain possible, an apparent reference to so-called six-party talks on dismantling its nuclear arsenal and bringing an end to its decades of isolation.

The talks have been in limbo since 2008. The Obama administration has sent signals that it would welcome a return to the talks. Among South Korean officials, however, the Cheonan incident has increased opposition.

“We continue to send a message to the North that there is another way,” Clinton said as a light rain fell and North Korean soldiers looked on from across the armistice line. “But until they change direction, the United States stands firmly on behalf of the people and government of South Korea.”

Gates and Clinton stood on an observation tower under umbrellas and looked through binoculars into North Korea.

North Korean guards peered through a window while Gates and Clinton briefly toured the Military Armistice Commission Building, a low-slung structure where semi-regular meetings occur between the two sides.

Inside, the two Cabinet officials stepped into the North Korean half of the building, technically placing them in enemy territory.

It was Clinton’s first visit to the demilitarized zone and the third for Gates, but his first as Defense secretary. Fewer than 100 American troops are stationed in the zone, although the U.S. maintains nearly 28,500 military personnel in South Korea 57 years after the armistice that halted the Korean War.

The Clinton-Gates appearance was preceded by an announcement Tuesday of air and naval exercises by the U.S. and South Korea, set to begin Sunday.

North Korea refused to accept a formal notification of the maneuvers conveyed over a telephone hotline Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters.

Instead, North Korea was given notice about the exercises over a bullhorn in the demilitarized zone, he said.

david.cloud@latimes.com