South Korea chose not to attend a meeting called by Interpol this week to discuss alleged currency counterfeiting by North Korea, South Korean officials said Saturday.
"We thought it's unnecessary (to attend the meeting), as its agenda had nothing special," an official at the National Police Agency said, requesting anonymity.
"It's not unusual not to attend such a meeting which is convened from time to time. Participation is subject to each Interpol member nation's discretion," he said.
The meeting was held in Lyon, France on July 26.
The Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. also said it was aware of the meeting but decided to stay away.
"We were notified of the meeting a few days ago, and decided not to attend it, as it was to handle only forged U.S. dollars," an official at the state-run company said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
North Korea has been accused by the United States of producing and circulating large amounts of forged high-quality U.S. dollars, known as supernotes. North Korea has denied the charges.
Since last November, North Korea has been boycotting multinational talks on its nuclear weapons program, citing U.S. financial sanctions against it over its alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering through a Macau-based bank.
There is no sign that the stalled six-way talks, which comprise the two Koras, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, will be held in the near future.
North Korea asserts that it will return to the talks only after the U.S. lifts the financial sanctions. Washington maintains that the financial sanctions have nothing to do with the stalled nuclear talks.
Seoul, July 29 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea fails to attend Interpol meeting |
