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North Korea's foreign minister, Baek Nam-soon, is whisked away from the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 27. He was supposed to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum.
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In wake of missile crisis, media touting last year’s move
The Bank of China’s freezing of North Korea-related assets is being deemed as a sanction against the communist state. In fact, some in the media and Washington are portraying the move as if it were in response to the North’s missile launches July 5, even though the assets were frozen last October. "We’re encouraged by the fact that the Chinese government has taken affirmative steps," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters in a private meeting on July 26. The remark comes in the wake of South Korean media reports that the Chinese state-run commercial bank froze Pyongyang-related assets, citing a lawmaker’s allegation. The financial move by China, one of the North’s closest allies, is interpreted by some experts as a proof of diplomatic and political rift between the two countries. Park Jin, a lawmaker of the main opposition Grand National Party, was the lawmaker who brought the issue to the attention of the press. During his visit to Washington, he said, "I heard from a former White House official that the Bank of China froze North Korea-related assets...I understand the North is even more frustrated because this means China is in fact imposing sanctions on North Korea," Park said.An official announcement by China regarding the sanctions has yet to be made. Some sources report that the bank made the move to avoid possible adverse impact on its plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Initial rumors of China’s move made headlines in many foreign media reports several months earlier, including an article in the U.S. magazine Newsweek in April. But none could elaborate on details, including when the freeze was put into effect and how much money was involved.
